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Spurs’ Transfer Rumors: Tottenham and a £5.2 million Deal for a Center-back?

By Alexander Balano

Jul 27, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino speaks during an All-Star press conference at Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 27, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino speaks during an All-Star press conference at Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports /
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What’s happening on the latest Spurs’ Transfer Rumors?

Let’s jump straight into the transfer rumors right away. Up first, Nicolas Nkoulou, a 25-year-old Cameroonian central defender was linked to Spurs for £5.2 million and it was reportedly close to being finalized. Of course, that didn’t happen and now he’s going to remain with Olympique Marseille for the remainder of the season.

Next, Tottenham are linked with another young striker. This time it’s 22-year-old Khouma Babacar. But just like Nicolas Nkoulou, the Senegalese striker is going to remain with his current club, Fiorentina to fight for a starting job as he’s been on the bench too frequently this season. And finally, Connor Ogilvie is looking to extend his current loan with League Two side, Stevenage until the end of the season. To the rumors below.

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A £5.2 million transfer was allegedly close to happening before Nicolas Nkoulou laid those rumors to rest with a quote from le10sport:

"“My agent has received offers from various clubs in January. These proposals we have studied, I weighed the pros and cons of what is best for me. And of this spring, I decided to stay at Olympique Marseille until the end of this season.”"

Had a deal gone through then it would have effectively ended Federico Fazio’s tenure with Spurs and the Argentine defender would most likely return to Sevilla if both clubs can work out a deal.

Now there’s a lot to like about the 25-year-old Cameroon center-back if he were to join Tottenham in the summer — unless he changes his mind before the winter transfer window deadline and joins now.

And the first pro, to signing the Cameroon defender is depth. How many games have either Jan Vertonghen or Toby Alderweireld started without much rest in between? As a matter of fact, when was the last time that both center-backs weren’t on the pitch together?

Never mind, that’s easy to remember.

It was a 2-1 loss to Arsenal in the third round of the Capital One Cup.

Anyways, moving on. Having Alderweireld play a majority of Spurs’ games this season has to do with not only his defending but also his contributions to the offense with long balls over the top. At some point, if Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t want to put both Belgian center-backs in risk of an injury, then having the Cameroon defender pairing up with Kevin Wimmer would be much better than Wimmer and Federico Fazio.

But again, this transfer rumor won’t return this month. Which is a shame because having Nkoulou as a third or fourth-choice center-back would have been a great investment at a low price of £5.2 million for a player who has started 21 games for Marseille in all competitions, with 17 starts in Ligue 1 this season. Meaning that Nicolas Nkoulou would have surely been given playing time if Pochettino needed to rotate his squad.

Standing at 6’3″ and weighing in at 187 pounds, the Sengalese striker, is almost identical from a height standpoint with Harry Kane who is 6’2″. But weight-wise, the 22-year-old could be the target man for Spurs to help out-muscle defenders when marching towards goal.

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Of course, Kane is no slouch either in this role as he has shown that he can hold the ball up before distributing it off to a teammate nearby.

Unfortunately this transfer rumor won’t happen for Spurs either as Khouma Babacar wants to fight for his place on Fiorentina’s squad. Not only that, but even at £10 million, which was apparently Crystal Palace’s bid, it seemed to be rejected in conjunction with Babacar wanting to remain with the Viola.

Had Tottenham managed to sign a striker who has made 14 appearances and scored six goals with one assist in all competitions this season, the only way that Babacar doesn’t sit on the bench some more — which is what he is currently doing right now. Is to have Mauricio Pochettino switch to a different formation or ultimately drop Harry Kane deeper from his striker position to the number 10 role.

Of course, switching formations is only done sparingly by Pochettino and it mainly happens when he and his coaching staff manages to find something about an opponent that they could take advantage of during the game.

Qarabağ FK in the first Europa League game for Spurs this term and against Watford recently, are just two times that Mauricio Pochettino deviated from his 4-2-3-1 formation and used something else.

Connor Ogilvie is another one of Spurs’ current youth academy graduates who have managed to earn consistent playing time while out on loan. The 19-year-old left-back joined League Two side, Stevenage, for his first taste of first-team football back in August 2015 after making 16 appearances for Tottenham’s Under-21 team in the Under-21 Premier League last season.

After an initial one month loan, which was extended into January, Ogilvie is hoping to extend his stay even further by remaining with Boro until the end of the season according to club captain Ronnie Henry.

Not only is Connor Ogilvie getting starts in League Two (11 starts with two appearances on the bench) but he’s also enjoying his time which is very important while continuing to get even more first-team experience. Although a minor shoulder injury took him out of action for a month, the 19-year-old came back and started in Boro’s 2-2 draw last weekend against Leyton Orient.

Here’s Ronnie Henry talking about Connor Ogilvie:

“He’s enjoying it. He wants to stay with us throughout the season. Hopefully we can do that. He’s got a big future ahead of him. He’s done well in League Two,” the captain and grandson of Spurs legend, the late Ron Henry, said.

“For him to say he wants to play week in, week out here rather than sit in Tottenham’s reserves or U-21s is a big thing.”

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“He has been very good all season. He has adapted well. It’s not easy when you come from the U-21s to League Two football.”

“He said to me he’s enjoying it and learning a lot more. He’s learning day in, day out about men’s football because the U-21s is a lot different. Well done to him.”