‘Levy finds new way to enrage Tottenham fans as transfer opportunities go begging’
Tottenham are stuck in transfer limbo thanks to Daniel Levy as rivals Chelsea and Man United have already made moves this summer.
Following their unlikely Europa League final win over United, Spurs looked to suddenly be in a strong position going into the transfer window.
Winning Europe’s second-tier cup competition and thus qualifying for the Champions League netted the North London side upwards of £100million [BBC Sport].
The added financial boost of playing in Europe’s most prestigious competition, and being in one of the most favoured destinations for footballers to reside, pointed towards this summer being a good one for Tottenham to rebound from a dismal league campaign.
But as their rivals get down to business, Spurs are stagnant and unmoving, and risk undoing the late success of their campaign on the continent.
Man United and Chelsea doing business as Tottenham stay silent
This transfer window is a unique one, thanks to this year’s revamped edition of the Club World Cup (CWC).
FIFA have introduced a new transfer window to accommodate for teams looking to change their squad before the competition between 1-10 June.
Real Madrid have already taken advantage of it by paying Liverpool around £10m for Trent Alexander-Arnold to secure the Englishman before the tournament begins.
But the window is not just limited to teams competing in the CWC this summer. Man United have used the window to sign Matheus Cunha, whilst Chelsea are putting the finishing touches on their deal to sign Liam Delap from Ipswich.
Tottenham have a squad full of issues. Whilst the Europa League success is a brilliant achievement, they are still a team with a £1.2billion [The Athletic] stadium that finished 17th in the Premier League.
Tottenham delaying Ange Postecoglou sack announcement
Football Insider revealed on 1 June that Tottenham had decided to sack Postecoglou.
But three days later, at the time of writing, there is still radio silence from the club. The sources who revealed that information indicated that “Tottenham chiefs have been waiting for the emotions of their Europa League triumph in Bilbao to dissipate, and also test the temperature of supporters in North London.”
Levy’s hesitancy to announce the Australian’s firing is now delaying a successor, such as Brentford’s Thomas Frank, coming in and working with a squad that could be a genuine relegation candidate next season.
The transfer window is open until 10 June, before it closes for six days and reopens on 16 June, so nearly half of the exceptional window is gone without a peep from the Spurs hierarchy.
And yet, Tottenham are stationary. Technical director Johan Lange “can only plan for every eventuality while watching the club’s rivals act”, according to Football.London.
At the same time, new CEO Vinai Venkatesham began work at the club on 2 June, but has arrived at a club “stuck on pause when it should be very much in motion”.
Levy has put in place the pieces to build a very successful Tottenham side in his boardroom, but he is not allowing them to act accordingly.
Every day that goes by is a day wasted, whether it be on negotiating with a potential incoming signing, or on planning for how Spurs are going to line up next season.
Levy has made a habit of angering Tottenham fans in recent years, but this delay to a crucial transfer window may be his most infuriating transgression yet.
Sacking Postecoglou after the Australian made good on his second-season pledge and ended Spurs’ trophy drought, or keeping him in the wake of a 22-loss league campaign, would upset some supporters either way, but continuing to do neither is likely to unite all of them in their frustrations.