Next seasons squad

[SirPercyHotspur]

Re Palhinha , RDZ's statement yesterday looks like this is first 30 million euros test the board will have to deal with , will they sanction that on a player who will be 31 at the start of next season unless of course they can negotiate a lower fee.
Remember Roberto's first press conference words , if the board don't back him , he's gone.

Asked if he will be at Spurs next season whatever happens, De Zerbi said: "The problem is not the league. The problem is to keep the relationship with the board and to have the same ideas in the project.

 

[Muttley]

Hot take. Porro is a better defender than Spence. Spence is elite at one on one defending and that’s it. Everything else’s he’s bang average for the league we’re in. Just look at results i games he plays. Consistently at fault for goals we concede and there is a reason why 5 managers in a row have preferred Porro to him.

I reckon if RDZ can't get him up to that next level then we'll let him go in a year's time. Spence has all the tools to be a fantastic full-back but doesn't seem to have the application. He needs to start obsessing about defending and owning every aspect of the full-back role.

 

[Muttley]

Re Palhinha , RDZ's statement yesterday looks like this is first 30 million euro test the board will have to deal with , will they sanction that on a player who will be 31 at the start of next season unless of course they can negotiate a lower fee.
Remember Roberto's first press conference words , if the board don't back him , he's gone.

Asked if he will be at Spurs next season whatever happens, De Zerbi said: "The problem is not the league. The problem is to keep the relationship with the board and to have the same ideas in the project.

We can't just be down on the board though. RDZ needs to understand what it means to be a Spurs manager. He went through the interview process and the squad development strategy should have been part of that. If that means we don't spunk silly money on thirty somethings then RDZ needs to understand that. It is why he gets paid the big bucks. He shouldn't turn rogue on us when the expectations have always been set with all these Spurs managers.

The easiest resolution is to get RDZ a player like Wharton. Find the long term solution and pay the £60-70m.

 

[Lemonade Money]

Re Palhinha , RDZ's statement yesterday looks like this is first 30 million euros test the board will have to deal with , will they sanction that on a player who will be 31 at the start of next season unless of course they can negotiate a lower fee.
Remember Roberto's first press conference words , if the board don't back him , he's gone.

Asked if he will be at Spurs next season whatever happens, De Zerbi said: "The problem is not the league. The problem is to keep the relationship with the board and to have the same ideas in the project.

Oh brick.

 

[Raziel]

We can't just be down on the board though. RDZ needs to understand what it means to be a Spurs manager. He went through the interview process and the squad development strategy should have been part of that. If that means we don't spunk silly money on thirty somethings then RDZ needs to understand that. It is why he gets paid the big bucks. He shouldn't turn rogue on us when the expectations have always been set with all these Spurs managers.

The easiest resolution is to get RDZ a player like Wharton. Find the long term solution and pay the £60-70m.

Hard diasgree, we need senior players in the squad, we know Palhinha now, if we slightly overpay at 30M vs 25M, then do it. 30M is speculation money in today's market.

 

[robp135]

With 3 games left to stay up, DeZerbi isn’t going to say “Nah he’s not technically good enough. We will sign better players” so I still wouldn’t class Palhinha coming back as nailed on.

 

[Raziel]

With 3 games left to stay up, DeZerbi isn’t going to say “Nah he’s not technically good enough. We will sign better players” so I still wouldn’t class Palhinha coming back as nailed on.

The standard PR line is we will evaluate/make those decisions at end of season (think Frank actually said that re Palhinha at some point), what he said was 100% and we need to build a team with players like him, hard to read that anyway but RDZ wants him. Will the club pay contract price or try to negotiate? whole other question

 

[robp135]

The standard PR line is we will evaluate/make those decisions at end of season (think Frank actually said that re Palhinha at some point), what he said was 100% and we need to build a team with players like him, hard to read that anyway but RDZ wants him. Will the club pay contract price or try to negotiate? whole other question

Standard PR lines work when your mid table. We need Palhinha to be as motivated as possible.

 

[Muttley]

Hard diasgree, we need senior players in the squad, we know Palhinha now, if we slightly overpay at 30M vs 25M, then do it. 30M is speculation money in today's market.

I think it always depends on those price points though. What would be the Wharton vs Palhinha full package comparison look like factoring in the up front transfer, salary over the life of the contract and the potential sell on? What would be the short, mid and long term impact on the pitch.

I think when you look at the £25m vs the £60-70m it looks worlds apart. Sometimes that's not the case when you look at all aspects.

The ideal for me would be another loan of Palhinha. Not sure whether that is even an option.

 

[Ace Face]

Hard diasgree, we need senior players in the squad, we know Palhinha now, if we slightly overpay at 30M vs 25M, then do it. 30M is speculation money in today's market.

Sell Sarr for 30mil and reinvest it in Palhinha.

Job done.

 

[robp135]

I think it always depends on those price points though. What would be the Wharton vs Palhinha full package comparison look like factoring in the up front transfer, salary over the life of the contract and the potential sell on? What would be the short, mid and long term impact on the pitch.

I think when you look at the £25m vs the £60-70m it looks worlds apart. Sometimes that's not the case when you look at all aspects.

The ideal for me would be another loan of Palhinha. Not sure whether that is even an option.

I honestly don’t see why we can’t have both in the squad.

Midfielders 2026/27
Bentancur
Gallagher
Maddison
Gray
Bergvall
Devine
+
Palinhia
Wharton/Scott/Garner style midfielder

 

[Muttley]

I honestly don’t see why we can’t have both in the squad.

Midfielders 2026/27
Bentancur
Gallagher
Maddison
Gray
Bergvall
Devine
+
Palinhia
Wharton/Scott/Garner style midfielder

We clearly can if you make the Sarr sacrifice, which you clearly did, and promote the homegrown to fill the squad. That could be Devine, Abbott etc. You obviously recognised Devine as the next to come in.

It's all about choices I guess. It's the same at centre half

We had Romero, VDV, Danso, Dragusin, Davies. We could have Romero, VDV, Danso, Phillips and Vuskovic for a Dragusin profit. It's way better in my mind, not even knowing anything about Takai or our own U21 centre halves.

 

[parklane1]

Sell Sarr for 30mil and reinvest it in Palhinha.

Job done.

Works for me.

 

[Ace Face]

I honestly don’t see why we can’t have both in the squad.

Midfielders 2026/27
Bentancur
Gallagher
Maddison
Gray
Bergvall
Devine
+
Palinhia
Wharton/Scott/Garner style midfielder

8 MFs for a team with no European football next season…?

I think Bergvall and/or Devine would need to go out on loan to another PL club to further their development.

 

[robp135]

8 MFs for a team with no European football next season…?

I think Bergvall and/or Devine would need to go out on loan to another PL club to further their development.

This is 23/24 where we had no Europe and only played 3 cup games. Does not include Kulusevski who played 39 total games and a lot of games in Midfield.

Bentancur & Bergvall are injury prone. Maddison is injury prone and coming of an ACL.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Sell Sarr for 30mil and reinvest it in Palhinha.

Job done.

Sarr's got high ceiling. Gallagher would be the one to get shot of

 

[Ace Face]

This is 23/24 where we had no Europe and only played 3 cup games. Does not include Kulusevski who played 39 total games and a lot of games in Midfield.

Bentancur & Bergvall are injury prone. Maddison is injury prone and coming of an ACL.

View attachment 22287

Still leaves room for one of your 8 to go out on loan though. I just don't see RDZ wanting to develop Gray, Bentancur AND Devine while chasing a CL spot.

 

[Ace Face]

Sarr's got high ceiling. Gallagher would be the one to get shot of

Not going to happen under RDZ IMO as it appears he highly rates Gallagher.

Interested in what you see in Sarr to believe he has such a "high ceiling" when he has not shown it for a period of games throughout his entire Spurs career?

 

[robp135]

Sarr's got high ceiling. Gallagher would be the one to get shot of

Don’t agree with that. Think there is this idea Sarr is 19 still. He’s 24 in September and played 200 top tier professional games.

Gallagher is only 2 1/2 years older. At the same point in to his career he was an England intention with a dozen caps and made a World Cup & Euros squad.

 

[robp135]

Still leaves room for one of your 8 to go out on loan though. I just don't see RDZ wanting to develop Gray, Bentancur AND Devine while chasing a CL spot.

Right now the starting midfielders would be a rotation between Palinhia, Bentancur, Gallagher & Maddison if all were fit. Depending on opponent, home/away etc you decide who to play. These are players you would class as 10th-6th place level. Nobody 5th or above is going out of their way to sign them to be a starter.

In Gray & Bergvall you have young players with the potential to be that top 5th-1st place level. In Kulusevski & Xavi you have injured players that could also come back to that. Devine is really there to fill there spot until back to fitness. If he proves to be better that’s great, but worst case we can sell for decent money now and some first team football at Spurs will raise his value.

What we need to add is a player that’s in the mold of Bentancur but of a similar level and higher upside. Because if Bentancur goes down it’s clear the team will struggle under DeZerbi.

Wharton or Anderson will cost you £80M+.
Garner or Scott will be £50M+.
I am sure there are players in Europe we can go for as well.

But what I don’t want is a situation where DeZerbi does not have the flexibility to implement the game plan he wants in any game because I the profile of midfielder he needs is injured. Which is the position we’re in right now.