Having seen Harry Kane get back in the goals with a hat-trick away at AFC Bournemouth last weekend, our Tottenham supporters in the Football Transfer Tavern are feeling rather buoyant again.
Currently in sixth place in the Premier League, Spurs are in that oh so familiar Europa League territory at present but only three points off fourth-placed Manchester United with this season being particularly wide open.
Boasting much more of a tight-knit squad under Mauricio Pochettino this term, this of course has its benefits with several members of Spurs’ squad knowing they’ll be starting each week but if injuries end up striking Tottenham down, what’s left is only a few academy graduates such as Joshua Onomah and Harry Winks without little experience to their name.
So far this term, Spurs haven’t suffered a mass injury crisis yet and long may that continue for Lilywhites fans who will be hoping their team can put a consistent run together rather than simply bagging an eye-catching result against Manchester City, only to throw away this good work with a loss to a mediocre side.
But with January on the horizon, we wonder whether Pochettino will trim his squad to make room for potential new arrivals. With this in mind, we’ve devised a five-man list of Tottenham players who could be axed by the boss in the New Year.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players Mauricio Pochettino needs to axe at Tottenham in January.
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Federico Fazio
Firmly out of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham starting eleven right now, his fellow Argentine Federico Fazio has only started one game for Spurs this term – against Arsenal in the Capital One Cup.
Linked with a Spurs exit in the summer, Fazio remained when he probably shouldn’t have and given Tottenham now boast Toby Alderweireld in addition to Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier and Kevin Wimmer who can fulfil duties at centre back, he’s out in the cold.
A lot will of course depend on whether Tottenham can find a buyer but when you scan your eyes through Tottenham’s squad right now, Fazio immediately strikes you as a player surplus to requirements.
Tom Carroll
Having been described as a hot prospect for quite a few years now, Tom Carroll is still on the fringes of Tottenham’s team and we think this speaks volumes.
Having spent loan spells away from White Hart Lane at QPR and Swansea City in recent years, you can’t help feel that Carroll would be an excellent player in the Championship compared to being merely a reserve at Premier League level.
Having not matured at the rapid rate that Spurs fans have seen Harry Kane and Andros Townsend develop in recent years, either another loan move beckons for Carroll in January or alternatively, a permanent transfer away if the money is right.
Mousa Dembele
Earlier this month, it was reported by talkSPORT that Tottenham are prepared to part with Mousa Dembele with Italian giants Napoli apparently keen on acquiring the Belgian international’s services for around £10 million.
A big fish in a small pond previously at Fulham, there’s no doubting he’s a skilful customer but he hasn’t really stamped his mark on Tottenham’s team since signing back in 2012.
Despite reverting back to being a central midfielder from an attackers’ role, four Premier League goals in 91 top flight appearances from Dembele is nothing to shout about and with Dele Alli having forged a great bond with Eric Dier in the centre of the park, the Belgian could be deemed surplus to requirements if a replacement came forth.
Having played recently due to an injury to Alli, we don’t think Dembele will be shaking this bit-part role any time soon.
Alex Pritchard
With Alex Pritchard having unfortunately been injured during the summer on England Under-21 international duty, it was an incredible shame for the tiny winger with the player having impressed everybody in a season-long loan spell with Brentford last season.
A key cog in the Bees’ eventual run to the Championship Play-Off’s, every Spurs fan in the tavern was under the illusion that Pritchard would be receiving more chances in Pochettino’s first team from the off this term.
Having been injured all campaign so far with a return date of January being the reality, Pritchard could be temporarily farmed back out on loan to the Champinship or to a lesser Premier League outfit in January.
This would further aid his development and what’s more, if Tottenham are still in the hunt for a top four place by then, you can bet your bottom dollar that Pochettino may be wanting to dip into the transfer market to potentially sign another attacker.
Given Erik Lamela’s renaissance to boot, temporarily loaning Pritchard again while still saving him for the future seems like the best bet.
Andros Townsend
This one very much depends on where you stand as an observer of Andros Townsend’s performances at Tottenham Hotspur.
He is quite simply not every Spurs fans’ cup of tea with the player being an incredible performer one day and somebody who lets a game pass him by the next.
Trusted massively by England boss Roy Hodgson who usually includes him in his Three Lions squads, Townsend is strangely a better performer for his country than his club and it is for this reason that he finds himself upon this list.
Not able to regularly oust both Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela from Pochettino’s starting eleven, we think that if Spurs go out and sign an additional winger in January, he may be down the pecking order and then possibly available for a transfer although for other Spurs fans, they want him to stay because he’s simply Tottenham through and through.
