Is there a benefit in signing Holtby now?

Always good to do business first

and the earlier the better as long as he is added to the team in the same manner that AVB has done so far. that is gradually without unsettling the team. Having no prima donnas is really quite good

Now that we have Holtby, what is everyone's thoughts on still pursuing Eriksen or Moutinho in the summer? I was really hoping we would sign Eriksen, do you think Holtby is as good or will be as good as those two?

@laughter7 - I assume this means the end of either of those deals. We don't want to stockpile central midfielders and a world class striker is a much bigger priority. Given that we won't be able to buy more than one player in the £20m category we need it to be a striker.

Let him see year out at Schalke, come to a few Spurs games (he was at West Ham match), then hit the ground running and have a whole Summer preparation with his new team mates. I had heard he was a left sided midfielder, so whilst I really hope not, possibly will get his big chance to shine when we get £50 million for Bale in Summer :(

When Holtby joins us, we'll have 3 players competing for the number 10 role. I can't see Sigurdsson sticking with us to be on the bench. He's not going to start against QPR on Saturday. Will he be happy to be a bit part player?

Getting a forward has now jumped up a position due to Ade going. I would get in some one for up-top (I hope not a loan, but it may be the best option until summer) and then get in someone like Moutinho for NOW if it’s still possible. Holtby should come in July imo, no need to waste the money as he will need time to train, settle with the team and he can do this pre-season. I’m sure we would have got him straight away at the time if it was possible. Seems strange to go back on that? Whats changed? We still have Sigurdsson and Carroll, both are up and coming players as well as this fella, and they will also need the playing time, plus any business going the other way needs be sorted a.s.a.p. COYS.

I'd go along with your points ox, the initial view of Schalke may be to make him turn up out of some kind of principle but an unhappy dressing room is not going to help them. i suspect a deal can be done

If the reports are true that we could be ready to offload Livermore & Hudd then yes I'd bring him in now. He can play in any of the 5 midfield positions in a 4231 so he'd give us plenty of options. A good signing like him could give us that 2nd half of the season lift that we've lacked from recent windows. We made good money in the summer & will probably do so again this month so no reason why we can't at least complete this relatively cheap deal.

Bring him in now... the benefits are that he will be intergrated over the next 6 months.. And would also give us more options for pushing on to get CL football next season...

the negative is that if we sign him, i dont see another midfielder coming in unless Levy can do a decent loan deal on SNeijder...

Striker issue more important as Ade looks to be goin to the ANC

Starting to doubt any big deals happening for us. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if Adebayor goes we simply recall Kane. If we're not going for Moutinho or Sneijder then we must bring in someone to give us fresh impetus & Holtby(though not on their level) could do that. It's far better than standing still.

No point in Holtby playing in Bundesliga. He could be made a bit part player which is not ideal for Holtby & us. We have a lot of competitive game coming up with us still in Europa, FA & obviously PL. We have number of games coming up in Feb to April. Someone like him could do well for us.

I don't see why Levy would chuck an extra million or more at this deal just so he can train with us earlier? Let him play competitively over there and stick to the plan. If he does come early, he should be accompanied with a decent number 9 for the long term (no loan). IMO Moutinho would make the difference for us right now. Having him our our books before summer would be excellent business. Maybe Levy has other ideas, but it would be a shame to miss this chap. Maybe hes already 'one that got away'.. COYBS.

Nope...canne see holtby coming to us, this transfer window. Really not necassary either. Let him settle at spurs during the summer and see if he can make a impression. I've only seen a few minutes of video of him. Looks strong left sided midfielder. Shows good Intent and shooting power. Not particularly quick...but apparantly, has a quick footballing brain. I see these extra signings as...money making options for Mr.Levy to invest into spurs.....via player investment. I remember the 80's and Irving scholar....investing spurs money into various business's..to try to make a few bob for spurs. Wasn't a great success. But that's not to say...Young holtby cannot be a decent investment....time will tell. Oh.....I wouldn't sell Bale for less than £70 mill'..in this transfer window, but i suspect spurs would be tempted at £60 mill'. Top striker please.....no excuses. Oh.....Zaha £20 mill'.......your having a Giraffe !!!!....(Palace)

Talking of potential strikers, what is happening re. Loic Remy. Only a short time ago Marseille were asking silly money, and he was only looking to move to a CL club etc. Now according to the press the two PL (at the moment) clubs seemingly interested enough to actually start bidding etc. are QPR, and Newcastle Utd, two clubs with one thing in common, either or both may well get relegated at the end of the season, and are about as far from the CL as you can get in the PL. Does this reflect how far Remy has fallen from grace, or is he not the player many thought.

I know that Damaio is a big wish for most Spurs fans and agree that it is difficult to seal a deal in January but it may be worth noting that it is Brazil's off season and that doing a deal now for LD makes much more sense than mid-season (our summer transfer window). As I understand it the difficulties lie that LD is owned by at least three different parties and getting them all to agree to the same fee is almost impossible. However, I firmly believe that we will only sign a player from AVB / Levy's wanted list & if they are not available then we wont sign anyone. Hopefully LD is available as he could really make a difference between now and May!

I'm surprised at how Moutinho is still being mentioned as it seems to me that Holtby's signing pretty much ended the likelihood of that. For those of you still calling for Mouthinho I have two questions, first where does he fit into our first XI and second do you think he is more or less of a priority than a striker?

i woulld take a punt on remy,certainly at the10million mark

@Frank - Remy has only scored 2 goals in 12 appearances this season according to Wikipedia, and no league goals in 8 games. Not sure if he has had injuries or anything but it seems like whatever form he had previously has eluded him and that's why interest from top clubs has dried up.

Only take him now if the virus in some so called supporters is past. Complaint-itis and Moan-itis previously directed at AVB appointment , Lennon, Walker now Adebayor. Holtby just need a poor start for an outbreak to occur.

Half a season is a long time in football........or is it a short time !......puddled !!...lol

AVB is doing well to manage the harmony in the camp and give everyone game time. However, adding yet another midfielder would make that harder, so only if the likes of Hudd & Livermore are going. I still sadly believe his chance to shine for us will come next season when Bale has been sold for big money. Hope not (re: Bale), but realistic.

Holtby's not really a LW if anything when he plays wide he's used as an inverted RW so he's not here to replace Bale. It's probably the midfield position that he's played least in his career. Willian is more likely to be a Bale replacement.

Sorry for the double post

what's a inverted right wing ?......just for clarification. Don't think we can replace Bale....least hope not, for at least another season. But for £80 mill'.....sold !!!!.......lol..pays for a few bricks..

Get him in now, we are competing on three fronts, rotation necessary at this time of the season and not to ignore potential injuries.

I think the whole scenario of Holtby joining now instead of in the summer is because the Schalke fans have reacted quite badly to his having signed for us. There have been a number of protests and some personal abuse has been directed at Holtby (calling him ungrateful and a traitor no less!) Now of course this shows how much the Schalke fans wanted him to stay which bodes well for us. However it does make things diffciult for Holtby and also for Schalke. This being the case it would be best all round if he came to us now rather than in the summer. That way he won't be abused or not played for 6 months (which may affect his performances and confidence) and it also defuses the situation for Schalke. The reality is that we hold the cards in terms of negotitation here but we have to be wary o the impact on Holtby himself if we leave him in Germany until the summer.

Lewis Holtby; reasons to be cheerful part one. Our own fixture list ends on May 19th vs Sunderland at home, Schalke's season ends on May 18th away vs SC Freiburg. Considering that the Under 21's European Championships run from 5th to 18th June 2013 which Germany will be part of. Lewis Holtby has the remaining month of June to move to England, pre-season training and pre-season fixtures in July early August, before the new Premier League season kicks-off, does allow him a longer period to settle into his new surroundings and become familiar with his new team mates. Staying with Schalke does allow plenty of time. The bonus reasons to be cheerful part two; in moving now allows everything to be put in place and hit the ground running after being with the under 21's, the settling in programme has been achieved now rather than later, so if he does move in this window, we gain a very good player earlier then expected, he will be a massive success for us, when Schalke beat that other lot in north london he was the star of the show, i don't for one minute see the premier league being a problem to him, getting settled early has to be a good move, if it happens.

Holtby plays best in the no.10 role like vdv did but he doesn't come deep for the ball, but potentially could play as Modric did for us as a deep lying playmaker. I believe he could be the perfect link player as Dembele can move the ball in to the area that Holtby occupies and then with his quick thinking he can see the pass through. One thing that suggests he would settle on the pitch quickly is the fact he thinks very quickly.

Fanman - Modric certainly didnt begin to shine on the left wing. that was where he was most ineffective. I'd rather we sign Moutinho now and left Holtby till the summer.

I see.....although guessed it..........No excuse for any top player to be two footed now days. Yes, liked waddle on the right ..87. Only seen 3 mins' of holtby..on video....thus hard to say if he equal on both feet......or where he exactly plays. Horses for courses.......he may turn into a good one...lol.......we'll see.

oops..no excuse for any top player...Not...to be two footed..now days. I meant to say...ooops......

Doesn't it all really depend on the striker resolution? If we get a striker who can play, up top, alone, then we could definitely us Holtby, who, as others have mentioned is more of A VDV type player. With Dembele and Sandro behind, he will not have to go as deep anyway, but is most certainly not afraid of a good tackle.

I would still rather we get Schneijder or Kaka on loan for the balance of the season but that doesn't mean there is not a huge benefit to having him come in now. If they drop the fee to 1M, why not? Give him an extra 6 months to settle and work his way in to the squad. I don't know how inclined Schalke will be to play him now or to allow him to flourish. Young players need to play.

I also agree with other comments that he is not likely competition for either Dempsey or Sigurdsson as his game is different. I think they can all co-exist and get enough playing time, unless we still plan to sign Eriksson or Moutinho though every MF we add further congests what is already a packed MF. Bale, Lennon, Sigurdsson, Dembele, Sandro, Parker, Dempsey, Townsend, Hudd, Holtby, Livermore, Carroll. That's 12 MF and only 5, at most, can play. Sell Hudd, loan out Livermore. That makes it more reasonable, but only if it is 4-5-1. Get Leandro or Doumbia and I can see us changing playing styles. For me, everyting revolves around the striker. Sort that and then we can properly address the MF. COYS

I am Danish and thefore have access to all German spots channels. Lewis Holtby is Top-Top player snd would fit in with us as a direct replacement for VdV. Furthermore, we still need a " Locksmith" I prefer Moutinho, but my fellow countryman Eriksen could do the job as well, he is in the very essence a versatile mid-fielder.

Moutinho is not a player we need. At 26M I'd rather see us go out and get Benat and Dzagoev and do a pre-contract with Sissokho. Same money spent, just addressed what we need. Moutinho would be a luxury. Eriksson, Pjanic, Benat, Isco, Holtby, or preferably Schneijder/Kaka on loan til season's end is what we need along with a true up top powerful striker. COYS

Why not send Jenas the other way, I'm sure he'd be a massive hit for Schalke? Then everyone is a winner!!

peterballb I tend to agree with you that it's a lot of money on a position where we aren't desperate. IMO Sissoko & Holtby on frees for Hudd, Jenas & Livermore would be enough to bolster us in the middle. The more pressing concern is the No9 & someone who can offer us an attacking pacey wide option with Townsend being too raw at this time(needs a years PL loan)

Get him now, chance to hit next season running, more options for the busy end of the season and no risk of Schlake letting him rot.

OOOOhhh...no..mrs......send Townsend out on loan, to a prem' club......and re inforce them !!!......no...no...no.......he ideal impact sub now......or replacement for Bale or Lennon.....when req'd'........cos' he shows more intent and has Speed...unlike others...

ITV have quotes from the head of the Togolese FA saying that Adebayor is going. Time to dust off that cheque book! If it is just a recall for Kane then God help us.

hmmm tough one....I read that he wants to play deeper so suspect he's Dembele cover...we don't need to decide if he comes straight away, we've got until 11:59 on the 31st! If we do move on Thud/Livermore then it would be a good idea to get him in now but I think Levy will wrangle on the fee/wages if we do!

you have to question the judgement/honesty of the £23-32m bid for moutinho in the summer...if we needed him then surely we need him now? Or was it a bit of PR as moutinho was actually no where near coming?

Shedboy, I don't think it was PR. I think we wanted Moutinho and would have gone through with the transfer but for the third party ownership. I just think that Dembele has been more influential than most of us believed he woud be, Sandro is the beast and Parker even looks to be pushing the ball forward. Withe Dempsey and Sigurdsson looking better and better, the "NEED" for Moutinho just isn't there. It is now part of a wish list. Spend 30-35M to get Benat/Isco and Leandro/Doumbia and we are in pretty good shape. COYS

Peter; Jenas is now in the states having his achilles fixed, when will someone at this club learn what a complete and utter waste of space that guy is. Since starting with Notts Forest in 2001-2002 he played 29 games, from 2002-2005 with Newcastle he played 110 games, total to date 139; Moving to us in 2005, until his loan in 2011 to Aston Villa played 155 games at Villa on loan he managed 3 games, loan to Notts Forest he played 6 games and his returned in January again. On the 18th of Feb this year he will be 30yrs old, he has cost us so much money it's untrue, when does his contract end, the best chance we have is he get's taken out by a sniper.

SpursAllday; ade OMG prepare for the wrath of BIG C... I can feel a few f's & c's coming this way soon,

Striker a side, aren't we in a great position? Nearly every potential siging we're talking about is to add competition to an area fo the field in which we already have a top class player! How many windows have we been through where we were looking to sign people just to plug holes in the squad? With the squad numbers where they are we don't even have to worry about shifting players before we sign new ones - hence the early transfer activity. Get us the one needed striker now to go with Fryers and then have Sissoko, Holtby and Zaha all arriving in the summer and walking in to our pre-season! What a window that would be and what a great spring board for the new season. Mr Levy you sandbagging son of a gun I'm waiting to be amazed!

spu 4 life-JJ is no longer a Spurs player after June this year...only 6 mths to go....

spu -Ade flew out of Heathrow this morning...

We should make a bid for FALCAO a fasle one and you watch chelski and man city brick it, they will bid as well, copy us in every target.

false

For fear of Ade's safety and security Levy never bothered hiring 4 SAS guards, Levy thinks the insurance will help secure the LEANDRO deal.

Shedboy, Chelsea may well be in the pole for Isco, but that doesn't mean we can't get him or Benat. Benat could be another Mata. Here's the thing though regarding Chelsea, you can only play 5 in MF and signing Isco will only congest the AMF's further. Marin, Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Lampard. You can add Isco to that mix, but then you'll have no width as all of those guys love cutting in and flitting about. If they want to overpay for ISCO, that's fine, get the deal done for Benat or Eriksson or Peresic or Dzagoev or Pjanic or or or. There are lots of guys who will help. The question is, who fits best. If we get Doumbia, my guess would be Isco. If we get Leandro (who is much less "all over the park") I would suggest Benat. It's just a guess on my part. I do think Isco is a prize AMF. Will there be enough of the ball for he and Mata? Not so sure. COYS

You snooze you lose. List is shorter, but there are lots of guys. Just have to get the correct iones in. COYS

I can't help thinking 15m+gomes won't be enough to land Leandro...more like 18-20m + Gomes....or do we get a nosebleed above our 16.5m record??

shedboy, I hear what you are saying. We need a few signings. Did since Keane/Berbatov left. That up the gut chemistry is what we do not have. Defoe will never be a part of that. Impact sub. But as to the funds you bemoan, I think Levy and ENIC would argue that those funds are being spent. I also suspect as the Financials will back it up. Our salaries have been creeping higher and higher by the year. Not in an irresponsible fashion, but there was no way 5 years ago that we give a player of the stature of Holtby anything more than a low level salary. 65k per week shows just how much things have changed. Salary is what cripples teams. It's why Harry left Pompey, West Ham, Southampton and Bournemouth in a mess. I maintain, that other than a choice few players in football (Ronaldo, Messi etc) you cannot pay over the odds n salary unless your owner is wiilling to eat the losses. In a FFPR world, that should really not be permissable on a yearly basis. Bale/Adebayor/Walker/Defoe/Parker/Dembele/Lloris are not on chump's change. If BAE extends, he too will be on very good wages. These all add up. If things go poorly, there is no issue, so long as a player and his wages can be moved. Adebayor will be hard to move. Parker too. We caught a huge break in that Pienaar was really the missing ingredient in Moyes' team. Bentley is unmovable. Jenas too. Gomes, I presume, is on decent wages. We had to give Crouch a bonus just to get him to go. All of these "mistakes/errors in judgment" affect how much money you have to spend At the end of the year. I suspect as we will run a small loss this season regardless of how we do in the league and in the cups. I don't thus believe as we have money to burn.

Either extend or sell BAE (sell or keep Rose based on the decision), sell Hudd, sell Gomes (hopefully as part of the Leandro deal), loan out Livermore, get in Leandro, get in Schneijder or Kaka on loan, get in Castaignos, get in Dzagoev and sign Sissokho on a pre-contract, sign Zaha and loan him back to Palace. All that should be sufficient to get us CL which should ensure that this year's losses will be recouped next year when we will only be selling players who are surplus to requirements and buying players for the future. We have to choose well and we need t get top 4. COYS

Peterballb, I agree with your assessment from the point of view of eating the finiancial Losses this season But I can't see Spurs doing that amount of business in this window. If we can get Sissoko on a pre-contract ,Holtby coming in the summer Zaha bought and loaned back and Leandro (never going to happen) or who ever signed in along with Fryers before the window closes it will be fairly epic work. Thats five players signed in January plus trying to move players on Maybe we could offer bentley as a make weight in the Zaha deal and still loan him back?

we could take him on loan for the next 6 months before his contract ends. that'll be the best case scenario if all parties are willing, but is unlikely i guess.

Holtby plays in the middle or on the right, any time I have seen him. COYS

peter - DL is not stupid our books will never show much of a profit if any at all, that's business. The fact is we have made 32m profit on player sales without investing any new money in transfers...of course salaries have to be taken into account but last I knew we hadn't changed the salary threshold (%ofT/O) ...we are crying out for at least one quality striker...as David Gold tweeted today about wet spam...you can never have enough strikers!! So I just want Levy to allow AVB to buy a player who can hit the back of the net...surely a club of our standing, owned by Billionaire foriegn owners can fund a striker? If not what are we playing at? build a new stadium to milk supporters?

Is there a benefit in signing Holtby now? Well if he is as good as I being told then bring it on! We have the CL to qualify for and trophy's to win this season! And I agree with shedboy2, go get a top class striker now as well. Enough of this for the future, stadium, success ENIC nonsense. It's been 13 seasons. The future is now!!!

pelebro, and from which of your benefactor bank accounts will these funds come from? We have, for 5 years now, turned a single digit profit or loss each season. We break even, even though our pay structure has been greatly increased. It's not fantasy football. The balance sheet actually has to balance. COYS

I had no idea you are Joe Lewis's accountant, as well as a football expert Peter...

pelebro, no expert here. I do believe I can spot a good hockey or football player from a young age. I also have an eye for fundamentals. Know what I see. I can also do math. You don't need to tell me that PSG cannot possibly make a profit this year. I also realize that players come with wages. Generally (there are exceptions) a player's transfer fee comes with commensurate wage demands. I know that Spurs, according to Forbes, are the 11th most valuable football club, but I also realize that when it comes to revenue, we are way behind. I also ralize that our owner is in this as a business man and thus expects his asset to appreciate and for the club to run a tight financial ship. I'd like to take credit for all of the information I have provided but it's all out there online, if people can be bothered. Spurs salaries are increasing faster than virtuyally all of the other PL clubs. We are catching up to Arsenal, who are largely maxed out in their 65k seat stadium. Since 2007, Spurs franchise has gone up from 243M to 546M last year. An increase of 303M. Arsenal have gone from 915M to 1.2B in that same time. An increase in value of just under 300M. So ENIC have actually done better for us than the Arsenal folks have done which is why DL and ENIC remain in charge. The owner likes he results. ENIC handed Harry 40M to purchase strikers. He gave us Keane, Defoe and Crouch. OUCH. Could have bought Suarez and Falcao for less than Keane and Defoe. Better to get those you know, huh. Fortunately AVB and Levy watch more than EPL highlights. There's a huge world out there. COYS

so peter has our wage cap gone? is it still c70% of t/o...so where's the millions from Moutinho and his salary from the past 6 mths gone?...yes I know there is not a pot of money sitting in a Spurs account marked striker....but there is money in the ether. We have to show almost break even every year....all good businesses do. BUT we must invest in the team....blimey if we're skint then we're stupid to pay big wages on Gylfi, Dempsey and Holtby...

Peterbalb I think you are being somewhat mischevious with regards to our getting Keane and Defoe, an Kaboul for that matter. The books may show a multi million pound cost, but I think it was common knowledge that all 3 were in fact to an extent largely re-possessed, as Portsmouth owed bundles on Defoe, and Kaboul, and Lliverpool owed a wedge on Keane. Reknapp had his faults but lets be fair and measured, as to what we blame him for.