Thomas Frank has defended Tottenham‘s transfer window business, claiming that the Lewis family were ready to spend what it took to sign Antoine Semenyo but that reality is not like a computer game.
‘The transfer window is not Football Manager, unfortunately,’ said the Spurs boss, ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Manchester City, who won this month’s £65million scramble to sign Semenyo from Bournemouth.
‘It is not. It would be a lot easier, but also a little bit more boring. We would not have as many good stories to talk about in the last 30 days.
‘It’s very difficult, the transfer market. It’s an art, it’s craftsmanship. You need to be very good at it. There needs to be a club that wants to sell and a club that wants to buy and a player in the middle that also needs to want to come.’
Frank admits his squad is weaker at the end of January than it was at the start of a month because of a cluster of injuries ruling out players such as Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Richarlison, Ben Davies and Pedro Porro.
Micky van de Ven is also a doubt to face City although he was able to do some training on Friday.
Tottenham missed out on signing Antoine Semenyo as he joined Manchester City for £65m
Ahead of Spurs’ clash with City, boss Thomas Frank has told Tottenham fans the transfer window ‘isn’t Football Manager’
Spurs have spent £35m on England midfielder Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid and sold Brennan Johonson to Crystal Palace. Souza, a Brazilian left back, has also been signed from Santos for £13m this month but at 19 years old is considered one for the future.
‘We’ve already done great business getting Conor,’ said Frank as he stressed the ambition of the club’s owners, the Lewis family. ‘It’s a great signing and fits everything we want for the club.
‘I can promise that the Lewis family is super committed to this project. There’s no doubt the club wanted to sign Semenyo. They did everything, and that’s a clear signal that the Lewis family is very committed.
‘We will see the big benefits of that in the future. I am not in doubt that we will improve and do better throughout the season. I am not in doubt we will take a good, massive step forward in the summer as well. They are very, very committed.’
Frank explained that the pursuit of these top calibre players meant they had resisted the temptation to sign players this month who did not fall into the same category.
He did not name names, but Spurs have opted against competing for Palace’s wantaway centre-forward Jean-Philippe Mateta or for Raheem Sterling, now a free agent after leaving Chelsea.
‘We can’t be too obsessed with a short-term fix that’s not helping in the long term,’ said Frank. ‘If we don’t do that, all the hard work we put in now can be limited for the future. And it’s not because we don’t want badly short term success as well.’
