View: Tottenham deal with external London-based company could bring in millions for Daniel Levy
It’s quite difficult to find fault with Tottenham Hotspur’s recent transfer business.
Thus far, Ange Postecoglou’s summer hiring campaign has shown to be a master class in navigating the transfer market. However, the outstanding work had already begun in North London prior to the Australian’s arrival from Celtic.
Spurs’ Premier League performance the previous season was undoubtedly below par, but under the direction of a manager who can motivate his team, deals for Yves Bissouma (£25 million), Destiny Udogie (£15 million), and Cristian Romero (£42.5 million) are now looking like inspired ones.
Moreover, Guglielmo Vicario (£17.2 million), Micky van de Ven (£43 million), Brendan Johnson (£47 million), and James Maddison (£40 million) joined Spurs in the recent summer, while Dejan Kulusevski and Pedro Porro extended their loan terms for fees of £29.2 million and £37.3 million, respectively.
Spurs spent £212.3 million in the summer, but nearly half of that amount was offset by Harry Kane’s £100 million transfer to Bayern Munich, according to a report published on September 2 by Sky Sports.
Spurs’ net spending in Postecoglou’s first summer was consequently estimated to be £102.3 million.
In light of the catastrophe that occurred in 2022–2023, it was money well spent and well worth it based on the team’s performance this season and their current standing in the Premier League.
On Wednesday, November 22, The London Evening Standard revealed that Spurs’ hiring decisions are now made primarily based on statistics.
The newspaper claimed on its website that Spurs have an agreement with a “external London-based company” to assist with their transfer business, which explains why such quality additions appear to have been made for low costs.
After joining from Metz for £14.6 million in 2021, Pape Sarr is now proving his worth. Vicario and Udogie, two Italian players, were also acquired for less than £20 million apiece.
The Evening Standard claims that in addition to having “in-house” experts who compile lists of possible transfer targets for Postecoglou and the Spurs recruitment team to consider, the company Tottenham is collaborating with “specializes in sports intelligence.”
Anyone who has seen the movie Moneyball knows that it’s basically a football version of that, with Spurs signing players who may not necessarily be big names at high salaries. However, there are some players who stand out in the domain of xG, algorithms, and numbers.
Because of their recent transfer window performance, Brighton has emerged as the Premier League’s envy.
Although Kaoru Mitoma continues to play at the AMEX, Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, and Mitoma cost them a total of £15 million. However, between them, Caicedo and Mac Allister have brought in a staggering ten times that amount, or £150 million.
This will undoubtedly have Daniel Levy licking his lips.
Spurs outsource a lot of transfer “groundwork” to outside firms, and they would undoubtedly be paid for their services for decades to come in the event of a mega-deal comparable to those two Brighton deals.
Tottenham is having a great time thus far with this model, but it goes beyond simply finding unknown players from teams like Empoli, Metz, and Wolfsburg. To lead them in the right direction, foster teamwork, and instill a spirit that money cannot buy, the right manager must be in charge.
Postecoglou is doing that right now, and if he can replicate that kind of deal for the North Londoners, he’ll be worth a lot more to Tottenham than Caicedo did to Chelsea.
