‘You’re probably not running, are you?’
Eric Dier (29) and Hugo Lloris (37) will accompany Tottenham until the first half of the season. Tottenham confirmed and announced the squad for the 2023-2024 English Premier League season on the club website on the 13th (Korean time). The maximum number of players on the roster is 25, of which 8 must be homegrown players, and an unlimited number of players under the age of 21 (U-21) can be included.
Looking at the list of 25 players announced by Tottenham, the non-homegrown players include captain Son Heung-min, ‘vice-captain’ Christian Romero, Ivan Perisic, Pedro Foro, Richarlison, Manor Solomon, Mickey van der Ven, and Guglielmo. 17 people were named, including Vicario, Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Eric Dier, Emerson Royale, Brian Hill, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Dejan Klusevski, Hugo Lloris and Giovanni Lo Celso.
There are a total of eight Homegrown players, led by ‘vice-captain’ James Madison, Brandon Austin, Ben Davis, Fraser Foster, Brennan Johnson, Ryan Sessegnon, Oliver Skipp, and Alfie Whiteman. Homegrown status can be obtained by being registered with a club belonging to the English Football Association (FA) or the Welsh Football Association for at least 36 months before turning 21. Destiny Udozi, who is playing as the starting left-back, and Pape Sarr, who has been playing very well recently, were named as players under the age of 21. Ashley Phillips and Alejo Beliz, who joined this summer, are also included.
Of course, the ones that attract attention are Dyer and Lloris. Tottenham chose to make major changes this season. Harry Winks was sent to Leicester City and Japhet Tanganga was sent to Augsburg. Jed Spence and Sergio Reguilon went on loan to Leeds and Manchester United, respectively. Above all, we succeeded in eliminating the humiliating ‘Club Record’ duo of Tanguy Ndombele and Davinson Sánchez. Tottenham announced on the 5th that it was parting ways with Ndombele and Sanchez. Ndombele is on loan for one season, and Sánchez is a permanent transfer. The two found a new home at Turkic champions Galatasaray. Midfielder Ndombele’s complete transfer worth 12.8 million pounds (about 21.3 billion won) was included after his loan. Center back Sanchez was transferred permanently for a transfer fee of 8.1 million pounds (about 13.5 billion won). The contract period is four years.
These two are players who were highly anticipated by Tottenham. At the time of his transfer to Tottenham, he broke the highest transfer fee. Sanchez transferred to Tottenham from Ajax in the Netherlands for 42 million pounds (approximately 70 billion won), including options, in August 2017. But he fell short of expectations. In six seasons, he made just 142 appearances in the English Premier League (EPL). He often made absurd mistakes, made the team sigh, and was reduced to being a scoundrel. Ndombele began accompanying Tottenham in July 2019. The transfer fee was a whopping 65 million pounds (about 108 billion won) including options. However, Ndombele only scored 10 goals in 91 games over two and a half seasons. He was loaned to his home team, Olympique Lyonnais, in the second half of the 2021-2022 season. In the 2022-2023 season, he left for Naples again.
Coach Postekoglou initially had plans to use Ndombele. However, he completely turned around due to his insincere training attitude.
With Sanchez and Ndombele eliminated, the team became more cohesive. Sanchez has lost his team several times due to lack of concentration, and Ndombele’s insincere attitude and poor performance are well-known. With the departure of these two, Tottenham was in a good mood and received even more strength.
The last remaining ones were Dier and Lloris. It seemed like the two players would say goodbye to Tottenham this summer, but they were named to the 25-man roster and continued their careers at Tottenham. Dier is of English nationality, but his name on Non-Homegrown is unique because he grew up at Sporting Lisbon in Portugal during his childhood. With this decision, Tottenham will be unable to let go Dier and Lloris until at least the winter transfer window in January next year.메이저놀이터
Dyer was the first choice to be released. As soon as coach Enze Postecoglou took office, he prepared a major reform, starting with the exclusion of Dier. Dier received manager Antonio Conte’s firm trust until last season. He served as a key resource for the three-back. However, due to his continued slump, he was pointed out as the culprit of Tottenham’s slump. He made frequent mistakes in offense and defense, including his slow feet and unstable build-up. Despite his struggles, his locker room influence did not diminish. Dyer, who was part of the leadership group with Harry Kane, was criticized for his actions and words that broke team chemistry several times due to his inappropriate leadership.
Dyer’s first choice was to stay. He said, “I will be at Tottenham. The best times will come in the future. Jan Vertonghen and Moussa Dembele were also in their prime in their early 30s.” However, Coach Postekoglou’s attitude was stubborn. He hasn’t given Dyer a single chance this season. The playing time was less than one minute. He actually treated it as out of power. Meanwhile, the newly recruited Van der Ben perfectly filled Dier’s void.
When the situation became like this, Dier also tried to escape from Tottenham. Offers continued for Dyer, who was excluded from Tottenham’s team. Led by Saudi Arabia, which has recently poured a huge amount of money, Fulham and Burnley have targeted Dier. Dier also made a counter-offer to Bayern Munich for a transfer from Tottenham. Bayern, looking for a defensive midfielder and center back, showed surprising interest, but there was no way Tottenham would sign Dier, who had been pushed back.
A trip to Burnley was the most likely. Dyer visited Chairman Daniel Levy and attempted to negotiate. He had a meeting and requested a transfer. Burnley made an offer, but it was a one-year lease. It did not fit Tottenham’s wishes for a complete transfer, so the club opposed it. In the case of Fulham, it is said that Dier was not wanted. It is known that Dyer would like to freely transfer through free agency in a year. Tottenham plans to explore the winter transfer market after joining the team.
In the case of Lloris, parting ways with Tottenham seemed like a foregone conclusion. Lloris, who joined Tottenham in 2012, has been guarding Tottenham’s goal for his 11th year. He was appointed captain of Tottenham starting in 2015 during the time of manager Mauricio Pochettino. However, his downward trend has been clear since last season. He has made four crucial errors leading to goals this season, joint-most with Manchester United’s David de Gea. Injuries were also frequent. Lloris, who had been out of action for eight weeks due to a knee injury, seemed to have lost his skills. He then suffered a hip injury and was eventually ruled out for the season. After the season ended, Lloris announced his intention to leave the team, saying “It’s the end of an era. I also have aspirations for other things.” Tottenham also chose to part ways with him, signing Italian national team goalkeeper Vicario this summer.
Tottenham even allowed Lloris to miss the pre-season tour so that he could find a new home. At first, a trip to Saudi Arabia seemed likely. But Lloris’ choice was to stay in Europe. Nice and Lyon in his native France, and Lazio in Italy showed interest in Lloris, who is older but has a wealth of experience. But negotiations were not easy. Lloris, who rejected Lazio’s offer because it was difficult to become the starting goalkeeper, negotiated with Nice until the end, but was unable to narrow the gap in his position. His return to his hometown of Lyon also did not take place.
Tottenham ended up continuing an awkward cohabitation with the two. It doesn’t seem easy to participate. Tottenham is already on the rise without these two, and there are enough replacements. ‘Captain’ Son Heung-min was given the task of controlling the somewhat chaotic atmosphere. The two have argued with Son Heung-min once or twice in the past. In particular, the war of words with Lloris was clearly revealed in the Tottenham documentary ‘All or Nothing’.
Leave a Reply