With Austrian international centre back Kevin Wimmer already in the bag and Burnley’s Kieran Trippier also joining, Tottenham’s summer transfer business is starting to slowly pick up.
While Spurs fans would have openly admitted that another central defender in Wimmer was certainly required, they’re not so sure a new right back was and despite Trippier impressing for the Clarets last summer, this leaves DeAndre Yedlin’s long-term prospects somewhat unclear.
The United States international featured on Spurs’ end of season tour to Asia and Australia but only figured once under Pochettino in the Premier League after arriving in January with the Argentine manager preferring to deploy Eric Dier at right back.
All of that said, Tottenham fans are always glad to see new recruits arrive at White Hart Lane but they do admit they’d like to see some further signings with that X-factor.
Tottenham have always played in the game in the correct spirits in years gone by but will need to stamp out several naivety’s in their game if they are to break back into the top four for subsequent Champions League qualification that is so sought-after in this part of North London.
Most Spurs fans crave a new striker to lighten the scoring burden off of Harry Kane’s shoulders while another defensive-minded midfielder wouldn’t go amiss either with the jury still very much out on both Benjamin Stambouli and Etienne Capoue.
Add to the fact that Manchester United may potentially be swooping for Hugo Lloris as a David De Gea replacement and perhaps a new goalkeeper might even be required later on in the summer.
With so much speculation filtering in and around the bar at the moment, we’ve taken this moment to list the five Spurs transfer targets that Pochettino simply can’t afford to lose out on as the summer drags on.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 transfer targets Tottenham can’t afford to lose out on this summer.
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Christian Benteke
As discussed at the outset, Harry Kane was by far and away Tottenham’s main source of goals in the Premier League last term with 21 strikes and Pochettino simply has to lighten this burden.
After all, what if Kane got injured for any significant amount of time?
Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado have both proved that they’re not up to the job of replacing the England international and the player most Spurs fans think is a no-brainer signing is Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke.
A proven source of goals in the Premier League, the Belgian is powerful and when on top form looks a match for any side in the division.
Some claim he won’t be able to handle the pressure of playing for a bigger club having yet to sample such an outfit so far in his career but if he ended up joining the likes of Liverpool and started banging in the goals, Tottenham fans would surely think, why didn’t we make this most obvious of signings?
Iker Casillas
With David De Gea fully expected to swap Manchester United for Real Madrid in the near future, Iker Casillas will have to decide what’s next for him as he embarks on the latter years of his professional career.
Not as good as he used to be, Casillas is still a top quality goalkeeper who has still been performing at the very highest level in recent seasons and the latest from The Independent is that Real Madrid are confident Spurs will be making a play for his services this summer.
When De Gea seals his Los Blancos switch as expected, Manchester United will probably be in the market for a new number one and many tabloids have been linking Hugo Lloris with an Old Trafford switch.
Spurs fans would hate to lose their French international stopper who is still quite rightly billed as one of the best in the business but if these visions came to reality, they too would need to act fast with Michel Vorm nowhere near as good as the Frenchman.
Perhaps these series of events could yield a Tottenham swoop for Casillas and lets be honest, it’d be about time Real Madrid gave something back to Tottenham as part of their so-called special partnership agreement wouldn’t it?
I mean, what have Spurs ever received in exchange apart from a lot of money for both Luka Modric and Gareth Bale?
Marc Bartra
While Kevin Wimmer has already arrived at White Hart Lane this summer, our resident Spurs fans would still like to see another established defender arrive with Younes Kaboul’s injury troubles bordering on the unbearable and the jury still being out on the abilities of Vlad Chiriches.
One player Sky sources have claimed Tottenham are interested in of late is Barcelona’s Spanish international defender Marc Bartra.
There is quite simply no way that the young Spaniard will be breaching the Barcelona central defensive partnership between Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano any time soon and when you consider both Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen are in Luis Enrique’s ranks to boot, Bartra could quite realistically be looking for a way out to gain first team football.
Bartra’s release clause only currently stands at £8.7 million, relatively small change for a player who despite his lack of games at club level has recently forged part of Vicente del Bosque’s plans at senior international level for Spain.
Still highly rated, it is this calibre of defender that Tottenham fans are extremely interested in acquiring this summer.
Yevhen Konoplyanka
While Tottenham fans will already claim the signing of winger isn’t the top priority with Andros Townsend, Erik Lamela, Nacer Chadli and the returning Aaron Lennon already at White Hart Lane, surely this area could be improved upon at the same time?
While Chadli has slowly started to convince Tottenham fans he was worth the move he earned back in 2013, the likes of Lamela have continued to frustrate while Townsend seems to save his best form for the England national team rather than Spurs!
One player who is undoubtedly talented and was an instrumental part of the Dnipro side in the Europa League this past season is Ukrainian international Yevhen Konoplyanka.
Missing out on a deadline day move to Liverpool in January 2014, his rather long-winded name is being linked with Tottenham this summer.
While back in May, the likes of the Daily Mail claimed Spurs had rejected the chance to land the player, the Daily Express still credit him as a Tottenham target and even go as far to include quotes from the player himself who is keen on securing a switch to England this summer.
There would definitely be a place for him on the flanks at Tottenham with Lamela and Chadli anything but consistent but prising him away from Ukraine won’t be the easiest of tasks, as we have seen before.
Steven N’Zonzi
Another name more recently linked with a summer switch to White Hart Lane has been Stoke City’s battleaxe of a midfielder, Steven N’Zonzi.
The Express, who have linked him with Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal, claim the Frenchman is stalling over a new deal at the Britannia Stadium with the player potentially looking to better himself next season.
N’Zonzi has been in the Premier League for six years now having originally joined Blackburn Rovers before the Potters and the midfielder has quietly gone about his business and improved season upon season.
Scoring a peach of a goal against Liverpool in an emphatic 6-1 rout of Liverpool on the Premier League’s final day last term, the strike was a mark of N’Zonzi’s talent as a box-to-box player with plenty of energy and guile.
While Mauricio Pochettino favours a deep-lying midfield duo of Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb, the reserve options behind this pairing have left a lot to be desired with Paulinho and Mousa Dembele continuing to look an absolute shadow of their former selves.
It is at this moment that Spurs fans think the potential signing of N’Zonzi isn’t such a bad idea.
