Do Tottenham’s Signings Lack Prestige?

As expected, Tottenham’s summer has thus far been characterized by shrewd but efficient business, the type that the club has become synonymous with in the last few windows.

The yield from such business is hard to criticize. Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier, Kevin Wimmer and Dele Alli were all — by most reckoning — brought to north London in deals that seem all the cheaper after their subsequent stellar performances.

While Mauricio Pochettino and his recruiting team’s eye for talent is unquestionable, there’s also something to be said about spectacle. With the possible exception of Alderweireld, none of those aforementioned signings were hot tickets. They were mostly young, unknown, undervalued yet promising players, the types that bigger clubs overlook in favor of experience and notoriety.

Targeting such players is entirely by design. Lack of competition makes for quicker deals and cheaper transfer fees. For a club like Tottenham hoping at once to finance a new stadium as well as maintain their competitiveness, this was a sound strategy.

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Under Pochettino’s guidance, that strategy has bore significant results. Tottenham qualified for the Champions League in a season seemingly destined to result in yet another Europa League appearance. Were it not for an unfortunate slump at the end of the term, Tottenham could have challenged Leicester City for the title.

Such improvement is, of course, welcome, particularly considering the sustainable means that led to it. Now, however, Tottenham face an image problem of sorts. Having seemingly broken through to the Premier League’s elite, is the club now obliged to make flashy signings?

Consider the Manchester clubs. Both United and City are making waves as they plunder some of the best talent in Europe, inflating the market by dropping excessive amounts of money on players like İlkay Gündoğan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan — and possibly also Leonardo Bonucci and Paul Pogba.

These are recognizable names from big clubs, the kinds of signings that fans of both clubs have come to expect. They would, in all likelihood, face a kind of backlash were they to suddenly to adopt a similar, Moneyball-ish approach to Tottenham.

Similarly, Tottenham runs the risk of backlash from its fanbase if their ambitions in the transfer market don’t meet up with their suddenly improved status.

None of which is meant to disparage Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen. The former has years of experience in the Premier League, and even if he was perhaps less regarded than Morgan Schneiderlin and other defensive midfielders in recent seasons. Janssen might only have one top flight season under his belt, but by the end of it he was the top scorer in the Eredivisie.

Still, if one or both players fail to work out as expected, there could be some fans who grumble about Tottenham’s failure to secure more expensive/prestigious players like Gundogan, Michy Batshuayi or Álvaro Morata. Such is the plight of being a “big” club.

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Given Pochettino’s track record, such gripes seem unlikely. Wanyama and Janssen join a Tottenham team overflowing with talent, one that already competed for high honors last season. If those two — and perhaps others — can help improve the club in the coming campaign, then Pochettino’s methods are only further validated, and thus any complaints are made to seem more and more unreasonable.