Tottenham told to agree defender deal as behind-the-scenes talks suggested – pundit
Frank McAvennie has insisted Tottenham need to sign a centre-back this month.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former West Ham striker said Spurs’ defence is “hopeless” and claimed they need a signing like Virgil van Dijk to challenge for trophies.
Last month (10 December), sources told this site that Antonio Conte’s have emerged as the frontrunners with Atletico Madrid to sign Stefan de Vrij with a January deal possible.
The 31-year-old will be out of contract at Inter Milan in the summer and could leave as early as this month.
Spurs have conceded 27 goals this season and have kept just five clean sheets in the 19 games they have played.
They were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal on Sunday (15 January) and are fifth in the league.
McAvennie urged the Lilywhites to fix their defensive issues.
“Everyone in football knows that defence is hopeless,” he told Football Insider.
“[Eric] Dier is not a good centre-half. You buy a good centre-half and that sorts so many problems out. Look at Liverpool when Van Dijk went there, it was like it changed overnight.
“I think Tottenham need good centre-halves. They need to sort that defence out because they are not good enough. Strikers must fancy their chances coming up against the defence.
“They are not even close to winning anything because they are shipping in too many goals. We will see what happens between Conte and Daniel Levy, that is a conversation I would love to hear.“
In other news, an injury expert has issued ‘massive’ Rodrigo Bentancur claim as Tottenham hit by ‘major blow’.