Since the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino in 2014 Tottenham Hotspur have seen an amazing rise and have become one of England’s most elite teams and champions league regulars. However despite Tottenham’s upturn in form the club are still without a trophy under Pochetinno, despite having perhaps the best squad the club has seen in the premier league era. They are still quite some way off reaching title challengers Liverpool and Manchester City as well, especially after seeing their title hopes slashed after a 3-1 loss at home to wolves. The loss lead to Pochetinno claiming that tottenham are to “Inconsistent” to win the league. Here’s how I would make Spurs realistic title contenders.
1. Keep Pochetinno
For Tottenham to win a league it is crucial that they keep Maurcio Pochettino at the helm and see off interest from Real Madrid and Manchester United in his services. At the moment I believe Pochettino to be the glue holding together an extremely talented squad keeping key players like Dele Alli and Harry Kane at the club. As well as this he gets the best out of spurs’ players and has massively increased the value of players such as Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier, who before Pochettino were both very average players, however are now 2 of England’s most talented full backs. So for Tottenham to be able to win a title in the near future Daniel Levy (Tottenham Chairman) needs to make sure he can keep Pochetinno at Tottenham.
2. Replace Mousa Dembele
Mousa Dembele has been a key component in Tottenham’s recent success impressing with his ball progression from midfield and dribbling ability, however has recently suffered a number of fitness problems and with his contract up at the end of the season as well as now being at the age of 31 he is perhaps past his prime. So for Spurs to be successful in their quest for a title they will need to replace him and although players such as Harry Winks and Mousa Sissoko have stepped up in recent weeks they are not at the quality good enough to win a league title. A player that could however be of sufficient quality and the perfect replacement for Mousa Dembele could be Tanguy N’Dombele whose performances for Lyon have been exceptional both this season and last season. Transfer Markt currently have him down as being worth €45 million however might cost Tottenham nearer £60 million to realistically tempt Lyon into selling one of their key players. N’Dombele has an 89% passing accuracy for the season and is averaging 2.8 shots a game and for a midfielder both stats are impressive this alongside his exceptional dribbling ability and strength this makes him almost a carbon copy of Mousa Dembele; at the age of just 22 years old, meaning he still has room to improve and grow as a player and under the tutelage of Pochettino could become one of Europe’s most talented midfielders.
3. Move into the Stadium
Another potential hurdle between Tottenham and a league title is the ongoing situation with the new stadium being built. Spurs were suppose to be moving in to their new 62,000 seater stadium at the beginning of the season however at the time of writing are still playing their home games at Wembley, as the stadium has failed to comply to health and safety regulations. The current situation with the stadium however is starting to have a negative impact on the club leading to many fans to grow frustrated and the increasing costs and current uncertainty could be what’s causing Tottenham’s lack of activity in the transfer market as they are unsure on what the overall cost of the stadium will be. Once estimated to cost around £400 million the new stadium could now cost closer to £1bn according to the latest reports. So the sooner spurs can move in to their new home and get the supporters fully behind them and some money back in the transfer kitty the better.
4. Extend Christian Eriksen’s contract
Christian Eriksen is going to be a vital part of any success Tottenham will have this season or in the coming seasons and this season has already put up 7 assists in 18 appearances for Spurs, good enough to rank him 3rd in the division only behind Hazard and Ryan Fraser, both respectively on 9, in addition to this Eriksen has scored 4 goals this season. So with Eriksen’s contract up in 2020 and elite clubs such as Barcelona beginning to circle it is crucial spurs tie him down to a new contract soon if they are to challenge for the premier league and avoid losing their star playmaker.
5. Sign a new centre back
If Tottenham are to realise the potential of their current team and want to show ambition to win a title, another centre back needs to be added. Jan Vertonghen although an elite centre half is now 31 and has his contact up in 2020 and Toby Alderweiralds release clause could mean Tottenham could be left with limited options at centre back with Davinson Sanchez the only other centre back at the club who could be seen as good enough, with Juan Foyth still developing and still some way off being ready to be in a title-winning side. As a result Spurs need to dip in to the market for a new centre back, one potential option that could be suitable could be Red Bull Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano who has been outstanding for the German side and at the age of 20 could become a world-class centre back for years to come. The young centre half would cost Tottenham around £30-40 million and with interest from Barcelona and Southampton, Spurs would have to snap up the defender soon. A different but still good option for spurs could be Eric Baily from Manchester Utd. Tottenham have been linked with the defender recently and with him currently out of favour at Manchester, as well as his current deal at United due to end in 2020, he could be a realistic and affordable choice for Spurs.
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