Tottenham’s January transfer window: What does it tell us about the club’s future?
By
Charlie Eccleshare
7h ago
It started with a flurry of activity and ended with one of Europe’s most exciting youngsters turning down
Barcelona to join them, this was no ordinary transfer window for
Tottenham Hotspur.
The decision of Lucas Bergvall, a Swedish midfielder who turned 18 on Friday, to choose Spurs over long-term admirers and apparent frontrunners Barca, capped a very satisfying month or so.
A month that also saw
Radu Dragusin turn down another European superpower Bayern Munich to join Tottenham.
For a number of reasons, this felt like a significant window for Spurs.
First of all, they did their business early. In the previous 12 years, seven of their 11 winter-window signings for the first team had been on deadline day — or later, in the case of Ryan Nelsen (not including making Giovani Lo Celso’s loan permanent in late January 2020).
This time,
Timo Werner and Dragusin were comfortably in place for Tottenham’s first league game of the new year, away to
Manchester United on January 14. Spurs had fielded three winter-window signings across the previous 12 Januarys — Lewis Holtby in 2013, Gedson Fernandes in 2020 and
Arnaut Danjuma in 2023. But here they were, fielding two in the same game — before the month was half over.
Ange Postecoglou was clear in private and in public that he wanted Spurs to do their business early, and he got his wish, suggesting a synergy between head coach and hierarchy that has been all too rare at the club in the previous few years. Signing a centre-back was the priority for Postecoglou and the club responded by fending off Bayern Munich to land Dragusin, one of the most highly-rated young defenders in Europe, for £25.8million ($32.9m) including add-ons.
Postecoglou also wanted another forward to slot into the team straight away. Technical director Johan Lange had worked hard with his team since his arrival in November to bring in someone who would fit the bill. They landed on Werner and signed him on loan from
RB Leipzig with impressive efficiency. Postecoglou is very pleased with Werner, who has registered assists in both his first two league games. Postecoglou said on Tuesday how valuable it was to sign him and Dragusin swiftly, so they could hit the ground running rather than waste time late in January or even into February acclimatising.
On November 2, Postecoglou said: “If you can get your business done early in January, it is more helpful. Sometimes, you can miss that opportunity by waiting a whole month. That’s sometimes out of your control, so having him (Lange) in is good”.
https://theathletic.com/5189880/2024/01/12/radu-dragusin-tottenham-bayern/
Spurs were an outlier, and there is a sense
the club are belatedly benefitting from the self-sustaining model that has seen them resist the temptation to spend beyond their means.
According to Swiss Ramble, the football business blogger, Tottenham were the most profitable team in the Premier League across the 10 seasons from 2012-13 to 2021-22. They also spend a smaller proportion of their revenue on wages than anyone else in the league, with the figure at just 47 per cent for 2021-22.
January also saw Spurs overtake Chelsea to become the eighth-richest club in the world — and the richest in London — in Deloitte’s Football Money League, with annual revenues of £549.2million. In the next month or so, they will publish their accounts from the 2022-23 season, which are expected to include record revenues and possibly see them become the leading club in the league when it comes to matchday revenue, even ahead of Manchester United.
Going into this year’s winter window, there was a sense of opportunity at Spurs. With many of their rivals struggling, there was a good chance of securing
Champions League qualification by finishing in the top four (
or possibly five) if they could make some high-quality mid-season additions.
And with a popular new head coach who had such a clear idea of the type of players he wanted, it wasn’t a window to hang about.
Spurs are trying to balance two objectives with their recruitment — continue to build the squad into one that can play Postecoglou’s style of football over the next few years, while also plugging gaps in the short term to secure a Champions League return.
Bergvall ticks the first box, Dragusin ticks both. Werner may end up ticking both, too, but he was signed primarily as a short-term fix to strengthen an area of the squad that has looked underpowered this season.
Postecoglou is aware that squad-building is a gradual process and saw this window as one step of many. “Nothing magical is going to happen in January,” he said after Spurs had been beaten 4-2 away by Brighton & Hove Albion at the end of December. “What we need to do is keep building — we’ve (only) had one window with this team to change it around.”
Spurs also wanted to sign a central midfielder and looked at Gallagher and Ramsey.
Previously, they would have been out of reach because Chelsea and Villa wouldn’t have considered selling to a direct rival. But in the new era of the Premier League’s PSR having some teeth, one or both of those clubs might have needed to make a big sale this window. In the end, Chelsea and Villa decided against doing so, but don’t rule out them selling an important player between the end of the season in May and June 30, which is
the last day of football’s financial year. If they do, Tottenham will be in a good position to pounce.
But while Gallagher and Ramsey were out of reach, Tottenham’s solid financial footing also allowed them to go after players for the future, and ultimately pull off the stunning signing of Bergvall.
It’s a purchase that will make Spurs the envy of most of Europe’s top clubs — just as they were when they signed 16-year-old Croatian defender Luka Vuskovic in September.
Nusa, Club Bruges’ 18-year-old Norwegian winger, was another youngster Spurs pursued this window, holding talks with the Belgian club about a possible €30million (£25.6m; $32.6m) move. Nusa was enthused about the idea but decided that
Brentford, and the greater chance to play regular Premier League football on offer across London, would be better for his development — however, that move also fell through in the end.
On the outgoings front — an area they have struggled with in recent years — Spurs were able to secure promising loan moves for a few of their youth and fringe players.
Ashley Phillips and Alfie Devine both joined Championship side Plymouth Argyle,
Alejo Veliz signed for
Sevilla on deadline day, Japhet Tanganga has crossed London to Millwall, also of the domestic second tier, and Djed Spence went to Genoa as part of the Dragusin deal. Eric Dier and Ivan Perisic were also technically loaned out, though with their contracts expiring at the end of the season, they have played their last games for the club. Moving on senior players deemed surplus to requirements was another reason this window felt significant, with the captain for close to a decade Hugo Lloris also leaving the club.
Some of the loans also reflect the recent struggles Spurs have experienced in selling players, though
this is a Premier League-wide issue.
This time, with Lange officially starting on November 1 and bringing in chief scout Rob Mackenzie soon after, there has been much more of a process in place.
The feeling around the club has been much calmer compared to the previous few years, which, given some of the key protagonists during that period were the famously volatile Antonio Conte and a Paratici who was having to deal with the serious allegations being levelled at him, is perhaps not surprising. There was also more of a sense this time of everyone pulling in the same direction — another contrast to Conte’s “club signing” or equivalent claims of previous windows.
Postecoglou has the final say on transfers but liaises with Lange and his team. Lange employs a data-led approach and he led the pursuit of Werner, executing his signing with typical diligence and discretion. Lange was just as influential in the Bergvall signing, which reflects very well on his work and, not for the first time, Postecoglou’s powers of persuasion.
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