Michael Dawson said that Pedro Porro’s arrival does improve the Tottenham squad but he pointed out that we thought the same about the likes of Richarlison and Yves Bissouma when they arrived last summer.
It was well documented ahead of the January window that Antonio Conte wanted reinforcements at right wing-back and in attack (90 min), and the Tottenham hierarchy have delivered on both counts, even though it took them until deadline day to bring Porro through the door.
Spurs have agreed to pay an initial £5m loan fee to Sporting for the 23-year-old along with an obligation to pay another £39m to make the deal permanent in the summer (Sky Sports).
The Spaniard will be replacing Djed Spence and Matt Doherty, with the former being loaned out to Rennes and the latter having his contract terminated before signing for Atletico Marid.
Dawson suggested that while Porro is an upgrade for Antonio Conte’s men at right wing-back, the Lilywhites need him to hit the ground running, unlike some of their summer signings.
The former Spurs centre-back told Sky Sports News (31/01/23): “They spent the money in the summer as well, over £130 million. That was when they looked to do business. You can be forced to do something during this window.
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“Bissouma comes in. Richarlison comes in. He (Bissouma) hasn’t stepped up. We all sat on the show on a Saturday afternoon and said ‘how good Bissouma was. Go and sign him, at £25 million, he is a snip’. He needs opportunities.
“Richarlison was coming in, he came into a front three where you go ‘£60 million?’ He’s been a bit-part player. You start making a squad and you start to think, this should be competitive. Defensively they haven’t been good enough, that’s what it comes down to.
“Two more (signings) now. Pedro coming in. It’s an improvement, in my opinion. But he has to hit the ground running.”
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In the last three transfer windows, we have now signed Kulusevski, Bentancur, Romero (made it permanent), Ricahrlison, Bissouma, Perisic, Udogie, Spence and Porro, while not being able to cash in on almost any of deadwood (likes of Winks, Lo Celso, Ndombele, Doherty etc).
Not only has our net spent been considerable but our wage bill has gone up substantially as a result, particularly with the salary that the likes of Perisic earn. I just do not see how some fans can accuse Daniel Levy and ENIC of not spending enough in the market. We are a self-sustaining club and do not have the same ownership models as the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Newcastle United do.
Fans who complain about not signing centre-backs will do well to realise that Conte himself publicly said that he does not want a centre-back in January. That might have to do with the fact that his top centre-back targets (potentially Bastoni) might only be available in the summer.
It is also worth remembering that the club were willing to spend £50m-plus on Bastoni last summer but the player was not willing to leave Inter Milan at the time. It is increasingly starting to look like the fans who have a go at the ownership, simply want a scapegoat for bad performances and results.
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