Are Spurs being significantly quiet regarding Harry Kane?
The official Spurs web site and Twitter account seem to me to be somewhat quiet as compared to their usual activity levels. At the time of writing the very latest tweet refers to the hosting of the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at the end of May 2022. (The club have now started previewing the Manchester City game) Goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman, who impressed during our pre-season games, has gone on loan to Swedish Allsvenskan side Degerfors IF on a season-long loan. That leaves me wondering who is going to be our third choice goalkeeper, now that Joe Hart has gone to Celtic. Another departed player is Dennis Cirkin who has left for Sunderland. Dennis showed promise at left back in the academy and development sides, and did make it to the first team bench several times last season. As with all our departing young players, I shall continue to monitor Dennis’s progress with interest.
Yesterday’s tweets included pictures of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Heung-min Son, Oliver Skipp and Dele Alli – all ready for the new season which starts on Sunday when Manchester City come to town! Significantly there has been no mention of Harry Kane on the club’s social media channel or their website, whereas the news media has been running Kane stories almost every day for weeks now. Will he, or won’t he go to Manchester City? Not before Sunday’s game, that’s for sure. There have even been rumours that Harry might sign a new Spurs contract and play on Sunday. I personally think both those events are highly unlikely. We will just have to wait and see! Of course, I would love Harry to stay.
Bryan Gil reported for training yesterday (Wednesday 11th August, 2021) after his participation in Spain’s Olympic side. Spain lost their final against Brazil last weekend.
The biggest arrival at Tottenham since our last article has been the confirmation of the signing of centre-back Cristian (“Cuti”) Romero. It turns out that Cristian is a loan signing for a year after which we are committed to purchase. The £40 million+ fee has thus been deferred. Sadly, we won’t see “Cuti” in action just yet because he arrives with a knee problem which hopefully will not keep him out of the team for long. Technically, I understand Romero (who had been a Juventus loanee) was signed on full terms by Atalanta before his move to Spurs. Cristian impressed in his last two seasons on loan at Genoa and Atalanta and this summer in the Copa America for Argentina, when he sustained his knee problem late in the final against Brazil. Reports of Romero’s prowess include an account of a racing recovery and successful tackle which put me in mind of Ledley King versus Arjen Robben circa 2006.
Returning to departing players, there has been one other permanent transfer from the club. That was 20-year-old Jubril Okedina, who was on loan last season with Cambridge United and has now moved on a full-time basis. Jubril played 59 minutes of Cambridge’s League Cup game against Swindon on Tuesday night. I remember being particularly impressed when I watched Jubril play at right back in February last year at Leicester. I even saw him score!
Players who have gone out on loan are Troy Parrott (MK Dons), Kion Etete (Northampton) and Jamie Bowden. Kion Etete scored two goals for Northampton on his senior debut last night, in a 2-1 League Cup win at Coventry. That’s a great way to start! Both Troy and Jamie have also made debuts for their new loan clubs.
The transfer window is open until the end of August, and we may yet see more arrivals. I am among those hoping we will not suffer a significant departure!
Look out for the Spurs Odyssey detailed preview of our game against Manchester City, which will be published tomorrow.
· 1. Paratici arrives and departing players listed
· 2. Nuno says, "We are going to make you proud!"
· 3. Further transfer news
· 4. Farewell to a favourite
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