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Transfers Summer 2026 Transfer Thread

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Well yes, i agree.

But if Roberto wants him then so do I. He may find a workable solution.
It’s the same folly as getting in Thomas Frank and saying “well maybe he’ll be able to adapt and coach attacking football.” No, coaches generally are what they are and players generally are what they are. Buy the guys that have been consistently doing the things that we’ll want them to do, not hope some talented fuckboy will roll his sleeves up and suddenly become a pressing monster.
 
that requires doing business early… which is something we’ve never ever been able to do.
Yeah, agree. Especially if Romero leaves, it might end up being a bit late. We’d probably want to get a proper look at Vuskovic in training and pre-season first to see whether we’re adequately covered with him, Danso and Senesi, or whether he’s better off with another loan and we bring in a more established, ready-made replacement. That sort of assessment needs doing early, which hasn’t exactly been our strong point over the years.
 
It’s the same folly as getting in Thomas Frank and saying “well maybe he’ll be able to adapt and coach attacking football.” No, coaches generally are what they are and players generally are what they are. Buy the guys that have been consistently doing the things that we’ll want them to do, not hope some talented fuckboy will roll his sleeves up and suddenly become a pressing monster.

Not really though.
I am not saying to go get leao and make RDZ have to try change him.
I am saying if RDZ actively says 'yes, I want that player' then I am all for it as we have afterall spent far more money on far worse players.

And for what it's worth, robertos teams are not typically 'pressing monsters'. They do press but its much more strategic.
As for how he uses wingers he does usually use 1 of them very high and wide waiting to recieve for those 1v1's.
Looking at average positions for Brighton players under di zerbi it was always one of the wingers that were the most advanced of the forward line so its not necessarily unworkable to have somebody like leao being used like that especially in games we dominate possession (which is expect to be most next season)

Im not desperate to sign him but he would no doubt raise our ceiling massively without a huge price tag.
 
The issue isn't really the player, it was the club. If we'd signed Eze from QPR when we were linked, Poch wouldn't have played him and Mourinho wouldn't either, and Conte definitely wouldn't. He'd have been the next Jack Clarke. Same for the others.
The reason why those players all are what they are is because they went to clubs that would play them in their formative years.

Every manager since Redknapp seems to live off the notion that a young player isn't good enough unless they are already first team quality. I'll make an exception for Mourinho, who was perhaps the one to hand out more chances and opportunities, but the 'rep' Poch had as a nurturer of young players was circumstantial instead of intentional
Then the answer is to stop wasting time, money and squad space on 5 N'obodies and buy 1 Olise as soon as they prove at a Palace that they're the business.
 
Then the answer is to stop wasting time, money and squad space on 5 N'obodies and buy 1 Olise as soon as they prove at a Palace that they're the business.
Tbf, you could argue Solanke and Richy “proved they were the business” at Bournemouth and Everton and were waste of money. Yeah Olise is a special player but Prem proven does not guarantee success…
 
Firstly, we need creativity behind Maddison while Xavi is out, and he can also play off the right, so we’re getting a player who can cover two positions. We've got Maddison there and then a huge drop-off in creativity if he's unavailable. While Xavi is out, there's definitely room for another player who can operate centrally and drift wide. He also has the ability to play on the right and has done so throughout his career. If you've actually watched him, he's very much a like-for-like profile to Kulu, comfortable receiving in tight spaces, carrying the ball, linking play and drifting inside rather than being an out-and-out touchline winger.

Secondly, I said probably cheaper, not definitely cheap. Cheaper than if we were to get an established creative midfielder or right winger. We’re talking probably 25mil. We’ll be allocating major funds towards other areas where logic suggests we're not spending another £60m-£80m on a player who isn't arriving as an undisputed starter.

Thirdly, you keep mentioning players like Devine (who is probably leaving as Preston have activated his option to buy price), Bergvall, and Sarr who are nothing like Vergara, and not creative number 10s.

What Leao are you watching??, when has he ever played on the right and how is he creative, he's a ball carrying winger/forward? He isn't replacing the creativity of Maddison or Xavi?
 
So what, we keep just punting £10-£20m on 20 year old foreigners that'll never be good enough?
Well one of those foreigners might be Bergvall, or Udogie, or Van de Ven etc… which represent some of our recent deals which worked out, buying players before the big clubs would get their paws on them.

I just don’t think there’s ever a one size fits all transfer policy is the thing. Some youth punts come off, most don’t. However, a lot of PL proven talents are ridiculously overpriced and not that good anyway. Transfers are a tough business… it’s about educated guesses and making bets you believe in. Not sure what the best strategy is, probably a mixture of all.
 
Well one of those foreigners might be Bergvall, or Udogie, or Van de Ven etc… which represent some of our recent deals which worked out, buying players before the big clubs would get their paws on them.

I just don’t think there’s ever a one size fits all transfer policy is the thing. Some youth punts come off, most don’t. However, a lot of PL proven talents are ridiculously overpriced and not that good anyway. Transfers are a tough business… it’s about educated guesses and making bets you believe in. Not sure what the best strategy is, probably a mixture of all
Our scouting has just been appalling.

The vast majority of Spurs fans knew the Solanke, Johnson and Richarlison deals were shit as they were being done yet the geniuses at the club saw fit to spunk 180m on them.

I don't think it is that hard to make good signings.

Everyone knew Wharton at 25m was fantastic business yet we did Gray at 40m instead.
 
Today is 31 May and first World Cup match kicks off on Thursday 11 June - with international managers typically calling their squad players to arrive 2 weeks in advance, which probably means many will be with international squads on Monday. The last Group Stage match is on Saturday 27 June, following which players entitled to 3 weeks hols (Ie to end 3rd week in July) if they are not going onto round of 32 at WC.

World Cup final is on 19 July with players being entitled to 3 weeks holidays after that - with PL kicking off a week or so after last players come back from hols.

Our transfer window opens Monday 15th June and closes Tuesday 1 September.

Spurs have got ahead of the game with 2 signings of Robertson and Senesi ..... but from now on most top players will be almost unreachable at WC (international managers often try to ban players talking to clubs/agents), making deals harder and longer to do.

So it could be a long transfer window, unless we have one or two other transfer lined up to announce next week - but that's optimistic !.

One significant exception is Italy. And Roberto is Italian.

Italy missed out on World Cup, so its players are more available. Odds favour us signing an Italian player or any other player not going to World Cup !!
 
Firstly, we need creativity behind Maddison while Xavi is out, and he can also play off the right, so we’re getting a player who can cover two positions. We've got Maddison there and then a huge drop-off in creativity if he's unavailable. While Xavi is out, there's definitely room for another player who can operate centrally and drift wide. He also has the ability to play on the right and has done so throughout his career. If you've actually watched him, he's very much a like-for-like profile to Kulu, comfortable receiving in tight spaces, carrying the ball, linking play and drifting inside rather than being an out-and-out touchline winger.

Secondly, I said probably cheaper, not definitely cheap. Cheaper than if we were to get an established creative midfielder or right winger. We’re talking probably 25mil. We’ll be allocating major funds towards other areas where logic suggests we're not spending another £60m-£80m on a player who isn't arriving as an undisputed starter.

Thirdly, you keep mentioning players like Devine (who is probably leaving as Preston have activated his option to buy price), Bergvall, and Sarr who are nothing like Vergara, and not creative number 10s.
£25 million for a 23 year old, unproven player that only has 12 Serie A matches under his belt is still insane!

You're right about Bergvall and Pape, but I stand by my point about Alfie (who can play AMC) or another academy player. I understand we might lose Alfie, but he still has to decide whether he wants to join Preston permanently or not. And if we tell him that there might be room for him this season, then I think he would stay.
 
£25 million for a 23 year old, unproven player that only has 12 Serie A matches under his belt is still insane!

You're right about Bergvall and Pape, but I stand by my point about Alfie (who can play AMC) or another academy player. I understand we might lose Alfie, but he still has to decide whether he wants to join Preston permanently or not. And if we tell him that there might be room for him this season, then I think he would stay.
If these are the buys, keep Devine and try him.
 
Our scouting has just been appalling.

The vast majority of Spurs fans knew the Solanke, Johnson and Richarlison deals were shit as they were being done yet the geniuses at the club saw fit to spunk 180m on them.

I don't think it is that hard to make good signings.

Everyone knew Wharton at 25m was fantastic business yet we did Gray at 40m instead.

I would point out that both in football and other business typically 50% of signings fail to live up to pre deal expectations.

But in signing Gray we also missed out on Anderson leaving Newcastle (for FFP/PSR reasons) to join Notts Forest for £30m/£35m, ready made with PL experience still only 23 but already one of best CM's around. Transferred in early summer 2024, same time as Gray.

Transfers are all about spotting/guessing the opportunities in advance and getting into the right position to take advantage (sometimes 6 months or a year forward), and doing homework on player. Newcastle's FFP issues were well know but Spurs failed to be in the queue for Anderson .......
 
£25 million for a 23 year old, unproven player that only has 12 Serie A matches under his belt is still insane!

You're right about Bergvall and Pape, but I stand by my point about Alfie (who can play AMC) or another academy player. I understand we might lose Alfie, but he still has to decide whether he wants to join Preston permanently or not. And if we tell him that there might be room for him this season, then I think he would stay.
I don’t disagree, but will back whatever De Zerbi decides to do.
 
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