As always, thanks mate - you're very kind, and it's appreciated.
I agree with you in terms of the potential of our signings this summer - broadly, Romero and Emerson are (at least in my view) statement signings given our current level, and excellent bits of business. Gil and Sarr fit the sort of profiles we've always looked for - young, hungry players with potential who are a bit below the radar - but Emerson and Romero were already established among Europe's best young players when we made our move.
But, the thing is, we've been here before. If you look back to our days between roughly 2005 and 2008, we made a habit of signing high-potential, highly-sought young players for high fees - it was almost our specialty. In successive summers, we signed Berbatov, Bale, Bent and Modric, all for high fees compared to our typical outlays back then. The common thread across our operating models then and now is the presence of a Director of Football who aggressively goes out and targets these players, and persuades Levy to part with our cash to make those deals happen. Comolli then, Paratici now.
I think the litmus test for whether Levy's actually changed is yet to come. He's never had issues historically paying for young talent - but when it comes to established players in their prime that the manager specifically asks for, that's when he has historically, continually failed to back his men, from endless examples under Poch to Skriniar under Mourinho.
We don't know how far Nuno wanted established players this summer - how much he wanted Adama, or Neves, or other players. But when he asks for an established player, and Paratici then sets up a big-money deal and goes to Levy to ask for his approval...that's when we'll truly know if he's changed.
One thing is for certain - that stadium that we have built was meant for far, far grander stages than the UEFA Conference League. It, and the training ground, were both built with the understanding that they would propel us into the elite - and that stadium belongs, and almost *demands*, to be used for the grandest of games, the most heart-pounding moments and the most awe-inspiring nights.
There's honestly a sense of silent, demanding expectation that surrounds the place - of untapped, barely contained potential thrumming behind the sleek concourses, the crystalline executive boxes, the gigantic single stand disappearing out of sight into the sky, and the technological marvel of a roof, which looks like a piece of engineering more at home in a space station than anywhere on this surly abode. I've done my share of crap grounds in Europe and North America - but when I was there, I understood what folks meant when they said it was like an alien mothership had landed in the middle of Haringey. I really did.
We have a gigantic stadium for the elite. We have the training ground for the elite. We have a DoF who has done his time at an elite club.
The manager and the players are a mixed bag, and are as yet unknown.
But none of it will last without ownership, and leadership, who want us to be elite - not elite on the cheap, not elite with zero net spend, not elite if affordable. Elite, with no excuses.
For better or worse ,Daniel Levy and his boss are our owners for as long as they want to be. We need him to learn what it means to be the chairman of one of the richest clubs in the world, in the richest league in the world...and aiming to be on the grandest stages in the world.
That's what Poch wanted for us. Time will tell, imo, if Levy actually knows how to operate at that level. If he doesn't, this is where we will stay.
