Tottenham gutted as big transfer misstep leaves Postecoglou scrambling without vital cover
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou
Leeds United Insider Phil Hay has reported that Tottenham did not include a release clause the Joe Rodon loan deal, and are therefore stuck with hardly any defenders.
Spurs started the season in fantastic fashion. Indeed, up until their last game, they were top of the Premier League, having played some fantastic football throughout the course of the campaign so far.
While they lost that game, the magnitude of their problems is far more severe than Manchester City leapfrogging them for top spot.
Indeed, the 4-1 loss to Chelsea couldn’t have gone much worse for Tottenham. James Maddison and Micky van de Ven – two of the club’s best players this season – were injured, and Ange Postecoglou has confirmed both will be out until the New Year.
On top of that, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off, meaning for suspensions in the next game, against Wolves.
That means three defenders will be out for that game that were previously fixtures of the side and while Ben Davies will be available after returning from his own injury, Postecoglou is down to the bare bones at the back.
Wide men Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon were already out, and while the returning Davies could play at left-back, that may lead to issues in the heart of the defence.
The only available senior central defenders are Eric Dier – who was brought on against Chelsea for his first minutes of the season – and 18-year-old Ashley Phillips, who’s played 14 senior career games, mostly in the Championship for Blackburn Rovers.
Lacking Rodon clause represents big misstep
That Tottenham only signed one central defender in the summer while letting Davinson Sanchez leave on a permanent deal and loaning out Rodon and Japhet Tanganga now looks a bad move.
They did attempt to sign some – Edmond Tapsoba was a major target – but never got a deal over the line.
It’s now been revealed that Spurs made a big transfer misstep that means they won’t have the help they could have had in this situation had they thought things through.
Indeed, Hay has written in The Athletic that when they loaned out Rodon to Leeds, they didn’t include a recall clause, and he will therefore stay at the club until the end of the season.
Rodon’s been in good form for the Whites this season, playing 12 games, with the club sitting third in the Championship at the moment.
As such, he could have carried that form with him back to Tottenham and eased their current issues had there been a release clause included in the deal, but their lack of foresight that a situation like this could occur has left them scrambling.
It’s recently been reported that Spurs will ‘press ahead’ with signing a new defender in January after Van de Ven’s injury, and they’ll hope they can get that over the line to ease their woes.
Tapsoba is mentioned, as are Tosin Adarabioyo and Lloyd Kelly. Any of those signings would be welcome, and the north London outfit will have to hope the season isn’t already ruined by the time any of them can walk through the door.
