Spurs Transfers: 5 Deadline Day Signings Andre Villas-Boas Could Make

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It’s finally happened. The move we all expected has come to fruition and, in a deal that will surprise nobody, Real Madrid have at last landed Gareth Bale for a world-transfer-record fee.

Losing their top goalscorer for last season was always going to come as a blow to Spurs and their fans but, just as Manchester United had to in 2009 following Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure, the Londoners have to move on.

And that they have done, as manager Andre Villas-Boas pushed his summer spending past the 100 million barrier last week by landing seven new stars.

Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Roberto Soldado, tienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela have all made the move to White Hart Lane so far, as the Lilywhites prepare for life without Bale.

A life which started yesterday afternoon with a 1-0 defeat to north London rivals Arsenal, yet still one that shows plenty of signs of recovery over the next few years.

Soldado was the fifth-highest goal-scorer in La Liga last season. Christian Eriksen is considered one of the brightest young prospects in European football.

There is plenty to smile about even if things do feel a bit glum for Spurs supporters this afternoon, having watched Bale paraded in front of the Spanish press earlier.

And there could be plenty more to smile about, too. With just over 6 hours left of the transfer window, here, we look at 5 more new signings who could arrive on deadline day.

Click “Next” to begin.

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5 Reasons Spurs Fans Should Put Their Trust in AVB

The jury is still out on Andr Villas-Boas for Spurs fans and the football media alike. While some think he is undoubtedly the man to push the club forward, others are less convinced.

In some of the more malevolent cases (i.e. that of the majority of the tabloid press), there has been a witch hunt targeting AVB ever since his appointment as Tottenham manager, as there is with every manager who has any highlightable or exploitable characteristic – in this case it’s AVB’s age.

A lot has been made of the fact that a striker wasn’t brought in during the recent transfer window. To be brutally honest, as a Spurs fan, I would have preferred it if we had purchased a world class target man, but it’s not the end of the world. We still have Emmanuel Adebayor (whose return from the African Nations Cup is imminent), Clint Dempsey and several youngster who are capable of doing a job, and the likes of Gareth Bale playing as emergency striker would hardly be the end of the world. Jermain Defoe’s injury isn’t exactly long-term either. And it’s not as if Tottenham didn’t sign anyone in the summer. Vertonghen, Dembele, Adebayor, Lloris, Dempsey et al – these were only brought in a matter of months ago. You would think we’d never spent a penny on anyone the way some fans talk about us.

In a nutshell, I am one of those who thinks AVB is the man for the job and here are five reasons why:

5. His Age

A bit contradictory, considering what I said in the opening paragraphs, right? But hear me out.

I feel that that AVB’s relatively young age of 35 is purely and simply testament to his fantastic ability as a football manager, and not something that should be seen as a disadvantage.

The man’s CV boasts a list of fantastic achievements that many managers would give their right arm to have accomplished, and to have achieved them at such a young age (and in such a short period of time at Porto) is nothing short of extraordinary.

When AVB took the reins at FC Porto, he was 32 years old. Just over a year later, he had won the Portuguese Supercup, the Primeira Liga title (completing the season unbeaten, nonetheless), the Portuguese Cup and the UEFA Cup (becoming the youngest manager to do so at the age of 33 years and 213 days). How many managers can lay claim to having won such a prestigious list of titles at all, let alone in one season, and let alone at such a young age. The answer is that you’ll be hard-pressed to find any, because there aren’t any.

Ferguson? No. Mourinho? No. Guardiola? No. Dalglish? No. None of those men were as young as 33 when they started their management careers, let alone when they won their first major trophy although Dalglish comes pretty close). The fact is, AVB is ahead of the game and if he goes on to emulating 50% of what any of those guys achieved in his time at Spurs, he’ll be a success.

People will say that his time at Chelsea tarnished his past achievements, but the fact is he wasn’t given a chance.

Roman Abramovich is an impatient whip-cracker who saw it fit to sack Roberto Di Matteo just months after winning the Champions League and to let Jos Mourinho leave despite bringing the kind of success to Chelsea that had, frankly, never been seen before. So to judge AVB on the short amount of time he was given at Stamford Bridge would be categorically wrong.

Bearing in mind what AVB has already achieved at such a young age, the potential he has is unquestionable and unrivalled. Tottenham should thank their lucky stars that they have one of the brightest young prospects in world football management at the helm, because he can only improve and that means big things could be on the way.

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