Journalist explains Tottenham’s current transfer strategy regarding British talent

It wasn’t long ago that Tottenham were heralded for having a strong British core in their team with a steady stream of talent coming through from the academy to the first-team.

Just a couple of years ago, Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose, and Harry Winks were all England players.

However, this has been somewhat halted in recent years as the club have seemingly been more reluctant to invest in British players in the transfer market.

In fact, Tottenham have been short of ‘non-locally trained’ players in recent years which forced Mauricio Pochettino to leave Foyth out of the Champions League squad last season (Sports Mole) and Jose Mourinho to do the same with Wanyama this season (Daily Nation).

With Wanyama having left the club, Tottenham are said to have the exact number of foreign players required for a European squad, as things stand (Football.London).

Sky Sports’ Paul Gilmour has now explained that Spurs have turned away from their strategy of buying British players due to their inflated value.

He revealed that the club are instead attempting to bring in younger British talents, who they hope will turn into stars of the future.

When asked in a Q and A why the Lilywhites aren’t signing as many British players, Gilmour said: “I think the reason they don’t go after already well established English players is cost.

“English players tend to cost that little bit more and most clubs don’t want to sell to Premier League rivals. The way forward seems to be making an investment and hoping they turn into stars.

“They have bought Ryan Sessegnon and Jack Clarke, who they hope to turn into established, quality players on the world stage.”

Spurs Web Opinion

As we’ve seen with the Harry Maguire transfer, and the prices being branded about for the likes of Jack Grealish and James Maddison, there is very little value in trying to buy established British stars. I believe the club’s approach of buying young British talent is the right one. However, while that strategy worked under Pochettino who loved to develop players, it remains to be seen whether it will work under Mourinho.

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