Tottenham Hotspur Antonio Conte is beginning to know which players he wants to remain as part of his squad heading into the future. However, the embarrassing loss to NŠ Mura has accelerated the process of removing those who have no place with the north London-based club.
The Daily Mail’s Dan Ripley assessed which players should stay or go with the January window a few weeks away. When it comes to those who should depart, the four players that stood out are Pierluigi Gollini, Davinson Sanchez, Dele Alli, and Tanguy Ndombele.
Gollini was brought in this past summer on loan from Atalanta as the possible long-term replacement for Hugo Lloris, whose contract expires in June. However, the English media outlet states that it’s Lloris who should continue his stay.
“There’s little to suggest that the 26-year-old Italian has made much improvement, and with a £15million option to buy and homegrown quotas for Spurs to be concerned about, making this move permanent is unlikely to be in their interest,” Ripley wrote.
On defense, the defender that draws the scorn of the Daily Mail is Davinson Sanchez. After spending £42-million on the Colombia international, the media outlet states that it’s time for Tottenham to admit it was a flop signing and part ways.
“Error-prone, and without a real command of the backline, he has not shown anything near the value of his transfer fee and was turned inside out by Mura in the shocking Conference League defeat. The end is nigh,” Ripley wrote.
Spurs hoped that Dele Alli would see a resurgence under then-manager Nuno Espírito Santo and now Antonio Conte. Still, it doesn’t seem that Alli can’t find his previous for, so the English media outlet suggests that it’s time to cut bait.
“The goals have dried up, and these days it’s hard to know where his best position is, let alone what he actually contributes,” Ripley wrote. “[Alli’s] time at Spurs is almost certainly up, and he will need to depart to save his sinking football career.”
Ripley reserved its most vial remarks for Tanguy Ndombele, the France international has failed to live up to the £55-million, and there were rumblings over a possible departure this past summer. Nonetheless, it seems as though it’s time for both sides to depart.
“Tottenham’s poster boy… for their total inability to navigate the transfer market in the last half-decade,” Ripley wrote.
“[Ndombele] is probably the best footballer at the club even, given his strength and prowess to pick out a pass. It’s no use, though, if you can’t put in more than an hour’s graft, and his fitness levels have long been questionable.”
Conte has a lot of work on his hands as he makes necessary cuts for Tottenham to move forward, and it will be interesting to see if either of these four players remain for the 2022-23 season.
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