Jase

Assuming this is true, I don't know what both parties were expecting really, especially Spurs... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/06/04/antonio-contes-move-tottenham-hits-stumbling-block-italian-concerned/ Tottenham Hotspur have called off their interest in Antonio Conte over concerns from both parties about him succeeding Jose Mourinho as head coach. Telegraph Sport understands that as Conte stalled over his fear that Tottenham could not match his ambition, the club became concerned about his demands and whether or not he would commit to offering chances to young players. Spurs are now not following up on their interest in Conte, despite having made him their preferred target earlier this week and held two days of intensive talks with the Italian. It is unclear whether or not Tottenham would change their stance if Conte altered his demands, but that was rated as unlikely on Friday night given his desire to restart his managerial career at a club where he believes he can win more trophies.

Well, didn't see the extension coming but hard to disagree with the point made here.

If Conte does end up at Spurs, think there are few things that won't work in his favor, even if he does galvanize the players: 1. He won't have much money to spend at all (and Spurs do have some dross in their squad) and if his history is anything to go by, we know he'll kick up a fuss and end up leaving or getting the sack while potentially dragging Spurs down. Also doubt he would suddenly look into using youth players when he only wants immediate success. 2. He won't have the surprise factor anymore with his back 3 system like he did in 2016/17. His success with us then has led to more teams using the back 3 and a lot of teams now are capable of coping with the back 3. We also saw what happened in 2017/18 when his back 3 became too predictable to play against. 3. He might not be able to get the consistency out of Spurs and work on his tactics etc as much as he wants with them being in Europe next season. Apart from his Juventus, he has not been great in the league when he has had midweek European fixtures to contend with. We saw it in 2017/18, the first season with Inter and in the first half of this past season with them. They also don't really have the squad quality/depth to compete on multiple fronts.

Even if Tuchel does make a U-turn on Abraham, it's debatable how much of a role is he gonna give him - is he gonna be a starter or rotation option? Right now, Abraham has only 2 years left on his contract and he hasn't signed a new one because I think he wants to play week in week out. He didn't even just sign it when Lampard was still around. If he's not going to sign it, then the club would want to cash in on him this summer as opposed to next summer.

So, just like the good old days then? Wait till the last minute and then panic buy because we can't get the main target? Haaland is pretty much out of the question this summer, especially if/when Dortmund do sell Sancho. Lukaku could still happen if Inter can't sell 1-2 others to raise the money they need but even then, do wonder if they are desperate enough to sell their best player and face another backlash from their fans after what happened with Conte last week.

Tuchel with everyone's favorite lady - Marina Granovskaia 🤣 Whoever wrote that even threw a shade at PSG at the end - "Unlike the previous season with Paris Saint-Germain, Tuchel led the Blues to a historic victory to lift our second Champions League trophy."

Inzaghi has finally been confirmed as the new Inter manager.

Matt Law suggested 4 players: 1. Lewandowski - Pointed out that Lewandowski remains "open minded" over his future but said it's more likely at this stage he remains at Bayern 2. Aubameyang - Tuchel still close to the player and there are already murmurings that Arsenal would listen to offers for him but he's currently earning £350k wages per week 3. Ings - Is English and will help with the HG quota, has proven PL pedigree but his injury record may put off the club 4. Sancho - Offers Tuchel different type of goal threat but Tuchel already has Werner, Havertz, Mount, Pulisic, Ziyech and CHO competing for places on the flanks

I believe that was done before the Villa game.

I was merely using someone like Ings as an example. And I'd imagine there would be rotation going on anyway because even if we get someone like Lukaku, I can't imagine Tuchel would then just keep Havertz, Werner, Pulisic or Ziyech on the bench more often than not.

But how much does Tuchel see chance creation as a problem? No doubt he wants another striker as an assurance to bang in the goals and another different option to Havertz and Werner. If none of the big name strikers are really available, then I wonder whether (and I've been asking/saying this) Tuchel and/or the club will go for someone a bit low key but still reliable in front of goal like Danny Ings (not suggesting him specifically but using him as an example) for the short term and then reevaluate our options next summer (e.g. Haaland is available then). Alternatively, Tuchel could be forced into a rethink with Abraham and maybe make that relationship work, although I doubt Abraham will sign a contract extension any time soon, which would put the club in a dodgy spot given he has only two years left.

Where did you get that amount? In 2019/20, Spurs' net spend was -€84 million and in 2020/21, their net spend was -€97.2 million. Plus in the middle of that, a pandemic blew up in everyone's faces and Levy now also have to pay back for that new stadium of theirs. It's not that Spurs can't or won't spend but the question is, how much can they really spend to satisfy someone like Conte? Conte spent ages moaning about the lack of spending or the club not backing him with big transfers here and at Juventus and Inter Milan. And we expect Spurs and Levy, of all teams/people, to suddenly spend big? This is the same Levy who went an entire season without spending a penny, which led to their downturn and Pochettino getting the boot. Conte may be able to work miracles but he can only do it for so long and he can only take it for so long before he wants to spend, spend and spend.

Nothing wrong with wanting a successful manager but it seems like Levy has gone off the rails or has become somewhat desperate. First Mourinho and now supposedly Conte. He wants all these high profile, short term managers but doesn't have the financial power and adequate group of players to actually achieve immediate success.

Exactly. Will also help to challenge for the Bundesliga (Bayern have a new manager. So god knows what will happen there), go as far as possible in the Champions League (get as much money as possible) and maybe win the DFB Pokal again (more sporting success). On top of that, from Haaland's perspective, staying another year at Dortmund wouldn't necessarily be bad for his development either since he's still only 20 years old and come next summer, he'll have more European clubs to choose from compared to this summer. And with clubs having to pay less transfer fee then, Haaland and Raiola can look to get more personal money from the signing-on fee and agent fee. He can also start a bidding war to see which club will offer him the highest salary. Matt Law was saying in his article the other day if we spend 150m+ on Haaland this summer, it'll take up almost our entire transfer budget. And that's on transfer fee alone.

The idea isn't necessarily bad but for those wanting us to push the boat out for Haaland, let's not forget that we ourselves asked Hazard to stay for another season (2018/19) when we could have sold him a year earlier to Real Madrid to get more money. Granted, he didn't have a release clause like Haaland does with his contract but the situation was the same like the latter now. Club got the player to stay for another season despite the risk of getting less money for him.

They will let one go this summer, not both. And Sancho is the one they are willing to sell this summer.