Thomas Frank breaks rule to reveal Tottenham transfer failure

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has revealed that Tottenham wanted to sign Antoine Semenyo this month.

However, Spurs missed out on their target and Semenyo joined Manchester City from Bournemouth instead for £62.5million.

Getty

Frank‘s side were linked on multiple occasions to the Ghana international throughout the January transfer window, which closes on Monday, February 2.

But they were unable to get a deal done and their interest in Semenyo has now been confirmed by their manager, albeit with the Dane saying he was breaking a rule to do so.

Spurs boss Frank told the media that the club wanted to sign Semenyo when speaking in defence of their winter business.

They have only brought in two players in the window, with Conor Gallagher and Souza arriving for over £50million combined.

And fans have been left wanting more, with their side sitting 14th in the Premier League and in desperate need of reinforcements.

Frank said on Friday afternoon: “The club are working relentlessly to do what they can to improve the squad, especially Johan [Lange], Fabio [Paratici] and Vinai [Venkatesham] and all those behind them.

“We can’t be obsessed with a short-term fix, as we cannot limit what we do in the future…I can promise the Lewis family [owners] are super committed and there is no doubt the club is clear.

“I will break a rule. We wanted to sign Semenyo. That is a big signing with finances and all that.

“It is aligned and they are the quality players we’re looking for to improve the squad.”

Getty

Getty

Semenyo at Man City

Tottenham may have wanted Semenyo, but they didn’t get him.

Instead, he’s got off to a flying start at Man City, scoring three goals in his first four appearances for the club.

The 26-year-old departed Bournemouth on January 9 as City moved swiftly to get their man through the door.

Semenyo scored and assisted on his debut in the FA Cup during a huge 10-1 win over Exeter at the Etihad Stadium.

And since then, he’s scored in the Carabao Cup and league.

Spurs and Frank will be well aware of the quality of player they missed out on, with the north London club to face him on Sunday.

AFP

What else did Frank say?

Spurs boss Frank went on to speak further about the lack of business going on for the club in the January transfer window.

He said: “The fans just want the best for the club like I do, the owners and everyone in the club.

“It’s fair to say though, that the transfer window is not like Football Manager. Maybe it would be more boring if it was, with less to talk about.”

Frank was later asked whether he thinks his squad is worse off than when the window opened due to injuries and limited arrivals.

“I think that’s fair,” he admitted. “We lost six or seven players. That’s crazy and some of them extremely unlucky, like Lucas and Ben.

“Of course it’s weaker than when we started the 1st of January.’