January is going to be a pivotal month in Tottenham’s season as the football club look to achieve their aspirations come May. Already in a very promising position after eight games as they top the Premier League table, the hope is that Ange Postecoglou’s men will still be flying high come the turn of the year.
Not only will January see the transfer market reopen for business, but the AFC Asian Cup and Africa Cup of Nations are due to get underway. On course to lose Son Heung-min, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma for a period of time, the Lilywhites are going to have to find a way of navigating through a handful of fixtures without three of their key players.
In terms of the transfer market, Tottenham will be expected to make some moves to help bolster their squad going into the rest of the campaign. Amid interest in Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher and Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly during the summer market, the football club could potentially revisit moves for the highly-rated duo.
Whereas a transfer for Gallagher may now be incredibly hard to pull off as he has started all eight of the Blues’ league games this season and also captained the side when Reece James and Ben Chilwell have been missing, a deal for Kelly may prove to be a bit more straightforward. Having sold Davinson Sanchez to Galatasaray after the closure of the Premier League transfer window, Spurs are short on options at centre-back and Postecoglou is well aware of that fact.
“It’s fair to say we are a little bit light there, but, at the same time, I thought for Davinson it was a good opportunity where he could get a long-term contract,” said Postecoglou in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Sheffield United game. “We needed to rebuild and change this squad. There was no point in us just tinkering around the edges. We need to do meaningful work, and it was never going to get done in just one window.
“Just as important was to create the opportunity for us now to go in January, or the subsequent windows and bolster up that area. It’s fair to say we need, probably, another centre-back within the squad. Although, we’ve got players who are fairly functional in being able to do us a job in there.
“We’ve got young Ash in, who is working really hard and improving all the time. For us, to hold onto him for some sort of security would have been a missed opportunity. We need to change this squad, rebuild this team, and that was the reason we allowed Davinson to go.”
Having failed with a £20million move for Bournemouth defender Kelly on transfer deadline day, Spurs could potentially sign the former England Under-21 international for a much cheaper transfer fee due to his contract status. Now with Johan Lange confirmed as the club’s new technical director and starting his new role on Wednesday, November 1, the Dane, who will have responsibility for recruitment, analytics and talent identification across Tottenham’s senior and academy teams, will have the opportunity to complete his first transfer win for Postecoglou if they want to lure the 25-year-old to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, it doesn’t appear that they will have it all their own way if they do indeed launch a move for Kelly as some reports suggested last month that Liverpool and Newcastle United are also keen on the centre-back. Set to enter the final six months of his Bournemouth contract at the turn of the year, the Cherries may have no other option but to sell their man in January or else they will risk losing him for absolutely nothing in the summer unless he pens a contract extension at the Vitality Stadium.
Tottenham could wait it out until the summer to sign Kelly but they would then run the risk of missing out on him altogether as a number of clubs could make their move for the ex-Bristol City man. Kelly was recently asked about his contract status but he explained that his main focus is on playing football at present.
“I’m just concentrating on playing football to the best that I can, and I think that’s all I can say on that,” he told BBC Radio Solent. “That’s where my head’s at. I want to be playing consistently and playing to the level where I can be.”
Possessing the qualities Postecoglou wants in a centre-back, Kelly could turn out to be a shrewd acquisition for Spurs if they can get a deal over the line. He would also help provide sufficient cover in defence to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, with 18-year-oid Ashley Phillips and Eric Dier currently the only defensive options available to the head coach.
The January transfer window is now edging closer and all Spurs fans will be keeping a close eye on Lange’s first moves in the winter market. If Spurs can still be in and around the top few positions come the turn of the year, what they do in the transfer window could have a major say on their final league position come May.
