Spurs supporters can be forgiven for their pathological compulsion to blame Daniel Levy for the club’s dismal Premier League form less than five months after his departure from the club. But that probationary period of grace, like the dwindling hours remaining in the winter transfer window, will soon end. The Lewis Family and ENIC's new regime, headed by Vinai Venkatesham, is poised to feel the full force of supporters’ ire if they fail to show ambition and invest wisely in the squad.
If not, Daniel Levy’s parting words may soon echo through Tottenham Hotspur Stadium like Lady Jane Grey wandering the battlements of the Tower of London: “They’ll appreciate me more when I’m gone…”
Bombshell reports suggesting the club is negotiating to sign Andy Robertson is all the evidence needed to prove Levy is no longer Grand Poobah of Tottenham’s transfer strategy. Locusts would have pooled in the chimneys of Haringey before Levy would have acquired Liverpool’s 31-year-old, twice-crowned Premier League champion on a £180,000 weekly salary a day after announcing the signing of a young left-back of the future.
Tottenham are making a mistake
If they agree to the deal, Tottenham will find themselves with four left-backs under contract. What does that mean for Djed Spence? Is he now expected to undergo the Gareth Bale treatment and magically transform into a marauding world-class winger? Or is the logic that Spence now competes with Pedro Porro for minutes at right-back? Is this the final nail in the coffin for Ben Davies’ Spurs career? And what about Souza? Would Andy Robertson become his mentor or his foil? Only the Fritz Hansen furniture at Hotspur Way can tell.
To be fair, signing Robertson would have made sense last summer. But not now. Yes, he is a highly respected figure across the Premier League and Scotland’s most-capped captain (68). He will certainly add character to the dressing room and demand the highest standards of his peers. But it is difficult to understand the calculus of prioritizing an aging left-back several seasons past his prime over a replacement for Mohammed Kudus (or (Son Heung-min, for that matter) during the final stages of the transfer window.
To put it bluntly, why are we not talking about Maghnes Akliouche, or even Brahim Díaz?
And what do the rumors about Andy Robertson indicate about the recent signing of 19-year-old João Victor de Souza Menezes, otherwise known as “the next Marcelo”? Should Souza ditch the English lessons and focus on French or German? Does the club intend to loan the promising Brazilian out to Stade Rennais or Hamburger SV to develop in Ligue 1 or the Bundesliga for five months?
Johan Lange is often lauded for his eye for talent, but his failure to identify and sign seasoned professionals capable of improving the first team could very well spell the end of his tenure at Tottenham. At this point, many would help pack his bags. Critics will note that his ignominious demotion and departure from Aston Villa suspiciously coincided with the Villans’ meteoric rise to contenders in the Premier League and Europe.
If Andy Robertson is in fact the last signing of the transfer window, there is a decent chance Tottenham will post an opening for Director of Football on LinkedIn before June. Lest we forget, Spurs already need to find a replacement for Fabio Paratici, who is allegedly still responsible for senior team acquisitions. Reports linking Guglielmo Vicario to Inter Milan, Radu Dragusin to AC Milan, and Mathys Tel to AS Roma suggest the Don may be leveraging his final weeks in North London to ingratiate himself with Italian directors of football and grease the wheels for his imminent return to Serie A as Fiorentina’s Director of Football in February.
What the Robertson transfer rumors and lackluster squad-building strategy have confirmed is that the ghost of Daniel Levy continues to loom large in the halls of Hotspur Way. The ex-chairman played the villain well, to be sure, but there is growing evidence that he may also have been the perfect fall guy for “Eniconomics”. Perhaps speculating on bargain-basement teenagers, aging stars, and unwanted squad players was all part of the plan.
Whatever is ultimately extracted from this winter transfer window of discontent, it has become embarrassingly clear the club lacks a master plan. The hierarchy cannot feign ignorance to the priorities that are obvious to everyone—from twelve-year-old fans to rival fanbases to the hordes of football pundits around the world—if they expect any credibility. So while the manager and the players must shoulder the blame for their abysmal Premier League form, ENIC, Vinai Venkatesham, and Johan Lange must prove they are worthy of stewarding the club into a new era.
If they think Andy Robertson is the answer, they should expect to suffer the same fate as Daniel Levy. Except the protests will grow larger, and the calls to sell the club will become more vociferous.