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Somethings are different about this transfer window; In England it will close on August 9th, much earlier than it shut last year. Somethings are not different about this transfer window; Spurs haven’t been very active.
Actually, they have been totally inactive. August 9th is just 10 days away and Tottenham have yet to make any new signings.
Mauricio Pochettino spoke today in Minnesota as Spurs continue their tour of the United States. He did not sound confident about the possibility of new players joining the club.
#thfc Poch says he doesn't know how many signings Spurs will make – if any.
— Dan Kilpatrick (@Dan_KP) July 30, 2018
"I don’t know if we are going to sign or not. I cannot tell you if we’re going to sign one, zero, two, three or four. It's true the window is so close [to closing] but the club’s doing everything."
Yikes.
It’s incredibly concerning that Poch hasn’t ruled out the club signing no one at all. The underlying assumption this entire window has been that Spurs would eventually be active at its conclusion. The debate could be had over whether that is the best strategy to succeed, but at least the new players were going to be bought eventually. Now that can’t even be guaranteed.
Pochettino seemed frustrated in the press conference. He also took some time to complain about the window’s new early closing date.
#thfc Asked Pochettino if we wanted to explain or clarify his "be brave and take risks" comment. He didn't want to. He also didn't want to give a number of how many signings he expects. He's reiterated his view that the early closure of the transfer window hurts PL clubs.
— Ben Pearce (@BenPearceSpurs) July 30, 2018
Early deadline day or not, the other clubs in the Premier League have been able to get their business done on time. This might be a fair argument to make, but it looks bad being made by the club that hasn’t signed a single player. It’s not an excuse that will fly with the fans.
Tottenham don’t need a major overhaul. They’ve done well to keep and re-sign a lot of their key players, but the midfield is looking dangerously short-staffed. There are already injury issues with Harry Winks, Victor Wanyama, and now Mousa Sissoko. Mousa Dembele is set to leave the club. The only healthy senior player in there is Eric Dier, and he could be low on fitness when he does eventually rejoin the club after the World Cup and his subsequent resting period.
It’s tough to believe that the club would allow their team to debut in a brand new stadium without any new signings at all, yet somehow that is starting to look like a possible reality. If it comes to pass, Spurs are in a lot of trouble.