Who Could Tottenham Sell This January?

Tottenham could sell a couple of players in the winter transfer window.

Federico Fazio, whether it was his fault or not in the debacle versus Arsenal in the third round of the Capital One Cup last Wednesday is almost — if not already 100% — going to be sold this January. While it was one game in which the Argentine center-back was on the wrong end of two goals scored by Mathieu Flamini, and generally looked out of place. The North London Derby isn’t “just a game”, pride is on the line between fierce rivals in north London and Federico Fazio didn’t step up to cement himself as a capable center-back to partner up with Kevin Wimmer in the Europa League or FA Cup after his performance in the League Cup.

If he were to be sold in January it wouldn’t be surprising as he was close to moving to the west Midlands to play for West Bromiwich Albion. That is, until negotiations broke down and the Argentine defender remained with Tottenham. Now aside from Fazio being sold, who could potentially join him in leaving Tottenham this winter?

One such player who could join Federico Fazio is Andros Townsend.

It’s a two part problem for the English winger. The first part is the most obvious and that’s Érik Lamela slowly cementing himself as the starting right midfielder after consecutive starts including an impressive all-around performance versus Manchester City. Second, Andros Townsend hasn’t been given much playing time. He’s only gotten three apperances under his belt this season in all competitions. This doesn’t even include another reason why Townsend could be sold. The last reason is the amount of players who are currently above Townsend in the depth chart and/or who are better than him right now.

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In a way, Andros Townsend can be looked at as surplus to requirements and could be sold to get some more money to sign another young player at a low cost. Think, Dele Alli who only cost £5 million in last winter’s transfer window and is now flourishing after being handed substitution appearances early on, but has since pushed his way into the starting eleven. If Townsend somehow stays with until the end of the season, he would only come in during the FA Cup and the rest of the group stage fixtures in the Europa League. There isn’t much that he offers nowadays in the Premier League.

Another name that could be sold might be Michel Vorm.

The Dutch international goalkeeper presents a conundrum for Tottenham. He’s currently the backup to Hugo Lloris who is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, meaning that outside of certain cup competitions and rest. The Frenchman will play 90-95% of the time every season. This makes it highly unlikely that Michel Vorm will get starts unless Hugo Lloris is injured.

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Another issue with keeping Vorm is his age (31), making him three years older than Lloris. Having a veteran backup to come in for spot starts is better than starting a youth academy graduate such as Luke McGee. Except for the wages involved.

There shouldn’t be a major difference between what Michel Vorm and Luke McGee earns that should warrant Daniel Levy and Mauricio Pochettino selling the Dutch keeper in favor of the young inexperience English goalkeeper. But in terms of who will most likely start in cup competitions and building for the future — plus saving money to spend on another player — Luke McGee is a perfect backup for Hugo Lloris.

As of right now, Tottenham is slowly starting to resemble somewhat of a selling club who will occasionally buy players. Whether this is due to Daniel Levy wanting money or Mauricio Pochettino and Paul Mitchell’s model of reshaping the club. It’s starting to become clear that the current players on this squad and others who will eventually return on loan could push Federico Fazio and Andros Townsend way down the pecking order at their respective positions. While Michel Vorm won’t lose his backup job to Luke McGee, if Tottenham’s focus is to build up a young squad for the future, it makes sense to promote McGee to be Hugo Lloris’ backup for cup competitions and the group stage in the Europa League.

For now, Federico Fazio, Andros Townsend and Michel Vorm are three players who could be sold this January. If none of them are on the move, then a summer exit is still possible. However if no one leaves, they must be important enough to keep around despite not getting many opportunities to play this season.

Next: Who Would Spurs Target to Replace Fazio?

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