Why I’m still waiting for a Tottenham statement of intent

So it appears we’ve missed out on David Villa, a 31 year old who is still the world champions top scorer. And I know we’ve just signed Paulinho a mere week into the transfer window. But you know what? None of these are what Spurs need.

I’m ambitious by nature. Supporting the mighty Spurs has often led me to restrict my optimism and replace it with realism and sometimes that “face-palm” moment when things were going so well but couldn’t be sustained. I don’t want us to go for fourth, I want us to go after third – hell I want us to go for the title. The top three clubs have all changed managers, with the exception of Mourinho’s Chelsea, we don’t know what’s going to happen this season.

The squad is good. For years I noted our lack of a left winger (I wanted Pederson back in the day) but now thankfully that’s fixed with Bale who came up through the ranks and proved himself. Our midfield is an embarrassment of riches – Paulinho, now joining Holtby, Dembele, Sandro, Sigurdsson, Huddlestone and Parker. That’s not mentioning Lennon and Townsend who I’m tipping to make a real contribution this season.

Defence is set with Vertonghen and Kaboul, Caulkner and Dawson, Walker and even if you take Disco Benny and his momentary lapses, I’m still happy.

But I want a statement of intent. I want us to sign someone of epic proportions. I want to feel the way I did when I woke up on a Saturday to learn we’d signed Modric without a whisper anywhere. I want to feel how I did when I learnt that the Van der Vaart transfer went through. I’m not interested in Damiao anymore – three attempts later I don’t think he wants to play for us badly enough. I’m not sold on Benteke – one season syndrome reminds me too much of Darren Bent.

I want a player that’ll make defenders scared. I want a clear and present danger to the opposition. I want one player that announces we’re not here to make up the numbers but that we are here to compete – right to the very top. We have a manager with tactical strengths, a squad that has depth if not missing a little guile.

I want a player who (and I know this is a stretch) as Daniel Levy says “Let’s go all in” to get and adds to the caliber of Bale. And I don’t want to wait for Levy Time. I don’t want to scrape through on the last day – I want a pre-season with a full eleven that are likely to start and I want to hit the league running.

Am I misguided? Have I not been a Spurs fan long enough to know this isn’t how we operate? I don’t know – you can be the judge of that. But when our petulant neighbours down the road are about to sign Higuain I think to myself – that’s a statement of intent. And I want Spurs to make one. Dare I say it’s now or never.

So who do you think would be our statement of intent? Who could we sign to turn the tables? And Bale staying doesn’t count. Why? He loves Spurs. Who doesn’t?