A Summer Of Change With Fresh Hope At Spurs

A new Premier League season is about to begin. Whilst Tottenham Hotspur could still do with a signing or two, there’s fresh hope around Spurs and what Antonio Conte and his men can achieve this season.

It makes a nice change to talk about an influx of signings at Tottenham. I mean, sure, it triggers a weird PTSD sensation within me relating to the magnificent seven that Spurs brought in when Gareth Bale departed for a world record fee, but that feeling is still suppressed by excitement.

This summer, no Tottenham superstars are tipped to be on their way out. Unless of course, you’re still fawning over Tanguy Ndombele’s trickery on the ball and believe him to be the sensation many thought he would be. This is already a major up on last summer’s Harry Kane drama and the tense environment it had created around the club and fanbase.

Spurs look settled for a team that’s now confirmed six summer signings. Every acquisition makes sense and has proven themselves previously before signing for Tottenham.

Tottenham making signings that make sense

Yves Bissouma has been one of the most consistently impressive defensive midfielders in the Premier League for the past couple of seasons. Even bossing Spurs in Brighton’s 1-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium barely a few months ago.

Bissouma is a player whose reminiscent of Moussa Dembele and Victor Wanyama. Strong, agile, confident on the ball and intelligent with his tackling. A type of signing that we’ve needed to make ever since Dembele felt he was no longer capable of keeping up with the league in 2019 and Wanyama was overcome with injuries only months later.

Richarlison has been nothing short of a menace to the Premier League since signing for Watford back in 2017 from Fluminense. The Brazilian forward has scored 48 Premier League goals since his arrival in England and offers a fantastic option off the bench and can definitely push for a starting place in Antonio Conte’s Tottenham team. His versatility means he can rival both Heung-Min Son and Dejan Kulusevski for places on the wing and offer rotational support for Harry Kane.

Ivan Perisic may not have graced the Premier League before, yet, he’s well acquainted with Conte. The Croatian was a prominent player in Inter’s 2020-21 title win under Conte and will greatly understand what the Italian manager will demand from him and his teammates throughout the season.

Djed Spence finally signed for Tottenham Hotspur. The young right wing-back impressed significantly whilst on loan at Nottingham Forest from Middlesbrough and showed glimmers of a young Kyle Walker in his style of play.

Spence is quick, agile, and tenacious. There are certainly elements of his game that’ll need a fair amount of improvement, such as his final ball. Still, he’s already had heroic performances in immense FA Cup games against Arsenal and Liverpool as well as in a heated face-off against old Forest rivals, Leicester City.

Clement Lenglet arrives on loan for the season from Barcelona. A summer signing that has definitely received mixed reviews from Spurs supporters, but I think it’s a fine signing for the club. The 27-year-old is a ball-playing, left-footed centre-back who impressed the world at Seville and then earned himself a transfer to Barcelona after just one season with Seville.

He’s a player that can definitely rival Ben Davies for the left centre-back role at Tottenham, even if he hasn’t yet proved to be a great signing for Barcelona. What he has displayed so far at the Catalan club is a consistent ability to open a defence up with a perfectly weighted ball for a teammate to run onto. A type of pass that Conte’s system thrives off.

With no option to buy, this could work out particularly well for Tottenham. If he thrives under Conte in the Premier League, Spurs benefit for the season. If he fails to perform, he returns to Spain at the end of the season and we’ll all have to pretend it never happened.

Last but not least, one of the first signings of the summer was 34-year-old goalkeeper Fraser Forster. Forster had a few pivotal moments last season and is a keeper who doesn’t lack experience or skill. The English keeper made crucial and outstanding saves against Arsenal, in a game Southampton managed to see off a 1-0 win back in April. Forster also featured in some controversy at home to Spurs in a 1-1 draw. We won’t revisit that topic now, though.

He’s an improvement on Pierluigi Gollini, who departed Spurs for Fiorentina. An experienced name in the dressing room and a safe pair of hands as a backup to club captain, Hugo Lloris. It’s another low-risk, high-reward signing.

Club giving Conte, support and time

Tottenham has improved areas of their team that were in need of attention. They’ve added quality to their depth and have given even their star players healthy competition to continue pushing them.

All six signings have Conte’s mark on them. All of them are players who are capable of playing the systems in which Antonio Conte executes.

Fabio Paratici has made a huge impact at Tottenham in changing how the club operates in the transfer market. Not just in the swiftness and pace of signings, but also in identifying targets with Antonio Conte and finding talent that’s wanted and not solely because it’s a good deal.

It’s apparent that Tottenham Chairman, Daniel Levy, has trust and faith in the Italians. There’s far more leniency and desire to spend money for the benefit of the club now that there’s a vision and understanding between the board and management.

Whilst our pre-season results weren’t overly impressive, this season still has the potential to be monumental for Tottenham Hotspur. For the first time in a while, Tottenham looks like a serious outfit and contender for silverware.

Our pre-season was utilised as a fitness, tactics, and systems educational period for players and staff, with less focus on the results. Besides, remember when Tottenham had a thrilling pre-season, tearing teams such as AS Roma apart, only to bring in 2 points from their first 8 league games in 2008?