Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to offload as many as nine players during the summer, as Mauricio Pochettino continues his rebuilding job.
Having dismissed Tim Sherwood at the end of last season the Londoners turned to Argentine coach Pochettino, who had impressed during his relatively brief spell in English football with Southampton. And although Spurs are set to miss out on a top-four Premier League finish again, there have certainly been signs of improvement being made under the 43-year-old.
And he will be given the opportunity to further continue his progress during the summer, when as many as nine players will be placed on the market. This list includes £25million Roberto Soldado, who has flopped since arriving from Valencia two years ago, and Younes Kaboul who was surprisingly named as club captain in the summer but has played just 11 league games since.
It is no surprise that the White Hart Lane outfit will also look to offload Emmanuel Adebayor, who has a year left on his £100,000-per-year contract, whilst Aaron Lennon could make his loan move to Everton permanent. Elsewhere, defender Vlad Chiriches, and midfielders Etienne Capoue, Paulinho, Moussa Dembele and possibly Benjamin Stambouli will all be made available.
Pochettino will meet with Paul Mitchell, the club’s head of recruitment who he knows from their time together at Southampton, at the end of the season to discuss which areas of his team he would like to improve ahead of next season. The Independent claims the Argentine wants a wide forward, a central defender and a central midfielder before the club return for pre-season.
One player who will certainly be added to the current first team squad is Dele Alli, the MK Dons forward who joined the Premier League side in the winter only to be loaned back to his former employers. The 19-year-old has continued to impress since sealing his £5million transfer and has been named Football League Young Player of the Year, and he is looking forward to his new challenge.
“I think with him (Pochettino) you can see already that he has a lot of faith in youngsters and I think you need that, just for confidence in yourself,” the forward, who has 16 goals in 26 league games this term, said. “You need a manager that believes in you and shows that he believes in you by playing you. It is the perfect club for me, hopefully. I am just going to do the best I can.”
Of the players listed above, would Tottenham be right to get shut of them all? And who should Pochettino be looking to add to his current squad?
