The current January window is a vital one for Tottenham Hotspur to get right if they want to continue to progress under Antonio Conte.
A born winner, the Italian knows exactly what it takes to create a successful side and will expect to be backed when identifying his targets.
Having been with the North Londoners for a few weeks now, he’ll undoubtedly understand exactly which areas need to be improved now, and which parts of the squad can be addressed from the summer onwards.
One player who hasn’t really done himself any favours is Emerson Royal.
The Brazilian was signed this past summer from Barcelona, but hasn’t got to grips with the hustle and bustle of the English top-flight at present.
He’s bundled off the ball far too easily, and needs to learn to get his foot in when required.
After having been bought by the Catalans from an arrangement that they had with Real Betis, Barca then decided to sell the player after he’d played just three games for the club.
That might have something to do with the extortionate offer they received from Spurs. The Telegraph cite sources who claim that Barcelona still can’t believe that the North Londoners offered to pay £25.8m for Royal.
No wonder, particularly given their financial troubles, Barca bit their hand off. On the face of it, it certainly appears that Joan Laporta managed to cut Barcelona the best side of the deal.
If Emerson wants to continue at White Hart Lane for the foreseeable future, then he has to up his performance levels sharpish.
What a surprise, we paid far too much for an average player, just as we did for notdembele, Jack Clarke, Doherty and just about every other player we have bought in the last 5 years. Last decent deal we did was for Son. How do our recruitment team and Hitchin in particular keep their jobs?