Tottenham told they’ve spent £200million to get weaker in stunning transfer takedown
Tottenham have spent over £200million this summer, but they now head into the new Premier League season with a weaker squad.
That’s the opinion of former Premier League striker Troy Deeney, who has launched a takedown of Spurs’ big-money transfer business so far.
Roberto De Zerbi has been hard at work over his first pre-season as manager after only just surviving relegation last term.
He has brought six new faces into his squad, spending a whopping £228m in total so far on just three of those players.
Sandro Tonali was signed from Newcastle for £100m, Mateus Fernandes joined from West Ham for £85m and Jan Paul van Hecke arrived in North London from Brighton for £52m.
The other arrivals – Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka – all joined on free transfers.
And that summer business from Tottenham has impressed talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook.
Speaking on talkSPORT’s Premier League All Access podcast, Crook said: “It looks a good window.
“They’ve got the experience of Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke – albeit a big fee for a player who only had one year left on his contract.
“Then you’ve got Tonali for £100million, £270,000 a week… Mateus Fernandes, despite back-to-back relegations, I think is a very talented player.
“They still need a striker and a winger probably, but if they get those two signings, they’re going to be up there in terms of the top five.”
But Crook’s positive outlook was certainly not echoed by Deeney, who quickly shared his wildly opposing view…
Are Spurs worse off after spending £200m?
Deeney launched into a takedown of the work done by De Zerbi this summer, assessing what Spurs’ squad now looks like and also mentioning the sales of Cristian Romero and Djed Spence.
The ex-Watford forward appeared to be left agitated by Crook’s opinion and began: “You’ve set me off now…
“Andy Robertson at left-back is of age now, it would be very unfair to say that he is still the player he was at Liverpool.
“He’s ageing and you’re losing Djed Spence, who has had a fantastic World Cup – so you’ve got weaker in the wide areas.”
He then added: “Romero is better than the two lads they’ve brought in in Van Hecke and Senesi… he’s leaving.
“So they’re now weaker at centre-back.
“And they’ve brought in Dubravka to be the third choice goalie and he’s probably your best choice goalkeeper… people get onto Chelsea for their goalkeepers, Spurs’ goalkeepers are terrible.”
The takedown then moved into midfield, with Deeney continuing: “Tonali, I rate very very highly, but also the kid Fernandes, he’s not better than Kobbie Mainoo.
“He’s been relegated twice and people keep telling me he’s a top player… didn’t he play all of those games?
“£85million is a lot of money for is apparently top player and he’s going to be great. But okay, can you show me?
“And then up front, you’ve got Dominic Solanke, if he’s fit, great… Richarlison, if he’s fit, great… James Maddison, if he’s fit, great… Mohammed Kudus, if he’s fit, great… Dejan Kulusevski, if he’s fit, great… do I need to continue?”
Deeney eventually summarised: “They’ve got weaker in defence from what they had originally, ageing players and lesser quality.
“They’re getting rid of Romero, he’s the best defender they’ve got… he was their captain and best centre-back.
“They’ve spent £250million-£300million and they still don’t know who’s going to score them ten goals this year, still don’t know who’s going to cross the ball into the box this year, where the assists come from.”
Host Sam Matterface then asked: “[Could it be] Mathys Tel?”
To which a dismissive Deeney cheekily replied: “Pardon?”
Tottenham start their Premier League campaign on Saturday, August 22 as they take on Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Their opening game of the season will kick-off at 5:30pm.
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