How good is Daniel Levy's poker face as Transfer Deadline Day looms?

28 January 2013 08:53

So how good is Daniel Levy’s poker face, will the Spurs Chairman make clubs fold as deadline day looms closer….

Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy is playing a high stakes game of poker with his team’s champions league future and if he is not careful he could see his team get busted.

Levy is gambling that Schalke will blink first in Tottenham’s attempt to accelerate midfielder Lewis Holtby transfer during this window instead of waiting till the summer. Schalke has rejected two previous offers from the North London Club and you can imagine the offers will not get much larger as deadline day approaches. The gamble for Levy is that if Schalke determines that they can get a better rate of return keeping Holtby for the season then letting him go at a cut rate price. Levy is betting the Schalke will want to get at least something out of the player and they can use some of the funds to acquire his replacement in French midfielder Michael Bastos.

Is Levy going to gamble that the price for Montpellier midfielder Younes Belhanda is going to come down enough that it makes him more appealing. Reports on this player have his club begging someone to take him off their hands as they are desperate for a cash influx.

Latest reports have Spurs pushing hard for Celtic striker Gary Hooper. Hooper would provide AVB another option up front and also provide protection for Jermaine Defoe should he get injured and he would also provide a much needed push for out of from Emmanuel Adebayor, who is off playing in the AFCON. The gamble on this link is two pronged, do Celtic really want to part with one of their best players unless they get top dollar and does Hooper really want to come to England and not get consistent first team football, can you see AVB choosing him more regularly then Defoe at this point it’s hard to imagine that time on the bench in the Premier League is more appealing the regular first team football at Celtic.

Would Levy be smarter to pursue other striker options that he could see to fruition such as the younger striker Son from Hamburg or Negredo from Sevilla; as the clubs for both players have stated they can be had at the right price as they are both in need of some financial relief.

With Tottenham fighting on three fronts for the rest of the season; and with legit shots winning the FA Cup and the Europa League. This club is going to need to be freshened up or the players will not have enough gas in the tank to finish in the top four in the Premier League which is the ultimate goal for the club.

So it’s one thing for Levy to drive a hard bargain it’s another thing to gamble with the team’s ability to compete in all three competitions with a legit shot at achieving all of the goals the team set at the beginning of the year.

So for the fans, players and the manager let’s hope the Spurs Chairman has the nuts and is able to bring some of these deals across the finish line, because if he doesn’t this team may see their hopes and dreams of sitting at the elite table in football go unfulfilled for another year.

Source: DSG