Opinion: Five essential positions for Spurs to fill this summer – And who could fill them

Without sounding like a broken record, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club remain woefully incapacitated in many areas of the pitch.

So, as seems to be done every year, where are the greatest problem areas in the Spurs starting 11?

Left Back

The problems across the entire back four (or five) are evident at Spurs, and have been for some time. Sergio Reguilon, for me, is an acceptable wing-back, but beyond him, I do not trust anyone else (in particular, Ben Davies) in either a traditional, or more attacking role.

It’s not the most pressing issue for Spurs, but nonetheless, the squad are crying out for an in-his-prime Danny Rose at the moment. 

Three Potential Premier League Targets

1. Tino Livramento – Definitely one for the future. (See also Romain Perraud, who caused Spurs all sorts of issues earlier this season)
2. Ryan Ait-Nouri – A key cog in what has been a top Wolves side this year.
3. Cucurella – A tidy left-back who oozes confidence in every Brighton game I watch.

Centre Back

We say this every year, but Spurs could do with another top central defender. Cristian Romero has been extremely effective when he’s been fit this season, and Eric Dier has been a pretty decent deputy.

But the squad needs another leader alongside Romero if this defence is to be feared. With the two existing centre backs, as well as a new one, we could be well-stocked in this area. 

Three Potential Premier League Targets

1. Ezri Konsa – Still at the age of 24, and absolutely robbed not to have received an England call-up thus far in his career.
2. Conor Coady – He’s enjoyed another great season, and yet no one ever seems to be in for him. (See also Max Kilman)
3. Marc Guéhi – Just 21 years old and has been mightily impressive for the Eagles this term.

Right Back

Deary, deary me. I’ll say it. Every single one of Tottenham’s right back options is absolutely useless. I’ve never seen a pair as bad as Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty, which just makes you wonder why the club were so content to get rid of Kyle Walker-Peters, and the versatile Juan Foyth.

Neither of our current options seem to be able to defend competently, nor attack with any quality. We need two right-backs in all seriousness. But at the moment, I’ll take one.

Two Potential Premier League Targets

1. Tariq Lamptey – A quality speedster, and would be a shrewd acquisition, if Daniel Levy were to show any ambition.
2. Matt Cash – He has shown himself to be a swash-buckling full back, and has all the attributes to nicely fit in at Spurs.
3. Honourable mention from the Championship – Djed Spence

Creative Midfield 

Yes, we’re still waiting on one of these, and it’s getting quite tiresome seeing the line-up every week, filled with a combination of all-out attacking players, and holding midfielders.

Since Christian Eriksen downed tools, this chasm has left the team looking stale, and lacking goals. It’s no wonder that Harry Kane has begun to come so deep for the ball.

Three Potential Premier League Targets

1. John McGinn – The real key to Aston Villa’s recent success story. He isn’t flashy, but boy, does he make good use of the ball.
2. Ruben Neves – ‘Creative’ midfielder is probably a stretch, but a team with this lad in it can only be advantaged. 
3. Raphinha – Perhaps the best forward outside of the traditional ‘Top 6’. He’s simply a quality player, and one that Spurs should be after.

Striker

It’s 2022, and there’s still no second striker at Spurs. Indeed, there hasn’t been since Fernando Llorente left in 2019.

Other teams seem pretty decent at filling the void, and only when it comes to Tottenham Hotspur do the arguments arise about ‘He won’t want to play second fiddle to Harry Kane’.

Well, there’s a more than decent chance that our number 10 could be off again this Summer, in which case, nothing short of two frontmen would suffice. 

Three Potential Premier League Targets

1. Armando Broja – Chelsea would be unlikely to sell to us, but I’m sure that this Diego Costa-esque forward would be a dream signing for Antonio Conte.
2. Ollie Watkins – Hasn’t been banging in the goals this season, but would be a brilliant option as a second forward at the club.
3. Raul Jiminez – In today’s market, it wouldn’t take a king’s ransom to prize the Mexican away from Wolves, and he is one of the most consistent forwards in the league.

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