Tottenham Hotspur already sold Brennan Johnson to start the January transfer window in one of their first orders of business, latching onto a transfer offer from local rivals Crystal Palace to recoup a fee of some significance to a player they no longer valued. Of course, they could not have predicted Mohammed Kudus's multi month injury just days later, but, alas, that is what Maghnes Akliouche will be for.
In any case, Johnson is not the only player who could officially exit Tottenham this winter transfer window. Although Spurs do not want to lose any more center back depth this year, Radu Dragusin has been pretty aggressive about wanting to return to Serie A and leave the Spurs bench behind him.
But the biggest priority for Tottenham to sell is veteran center midfielder Yves Bissouma. Now that he is on an expiring contract, it is less likely Spurs will be able to find a suitor willing to pay for a player buried on the bench and more famous for laughing gas incidents than his play on the pitch - and it's not like he was standing out brightly for Mali at the AFCON Tournament either.
Yves Bissouma needs to go
Bissouma's departure from Tottenham is much more likely now, too. Because while everyone was busy talking about Conor Gallagher and how he is not the right fit to replace Rodrigo Bentancur or fill Spurs biggest need for a deep lying playmaker who can lead the team from the front foot, we all lost sight of the player who Gallagher is really replacing.
Think about it. Gallagher is a box to box monster of a No. 8 who never gets tired, wins possession, and can affect the attack with some quality. He is a leader who works hard for the team. Basically, he is a Bissouma replacement and, as a character, everything that Bissouma is not while being both a younger and a more effective player.
He obviously comes at a higher price tag, but if Spurs were smarter and actually sold Bissouma last summer before his injury and signed Gallagher for a reasonable price instead of being forced to outbid Aston Villa and pay 40 million euros, they may not have paid that much more for Gallagher than what they would have sold Bissouma to the Turkish or Saudi Arabian leagues.
Gallagher is the Bissouma replacement in the 8. Spurs still have to sign that young, stellar No. 6 to pair with Archie Gray at the base, but Gallagher is now the experienced Premier League box to box midfielder who steps in and erases Bissouma's role in the squad completely. Now how much better does that sound when you reframe your thinking in that way?