Ange Postecoglou has insisted that he does not want to sign the players who would only come to Tottenham if the club is in the Champions League.
It is fair to say that qualifying for the Champions League will have a big impact on Tottenham both on and off the pitch and could influence the pace of the project that is now underway.
Not only would playing in the competition help boost the club’s coffers, thus paving the way to spend more on wages and transfer fees, but it could also help them attract a higher calibre of players.
However, Postecoglou refuted the latter point, insisting that he does not want to sign the sort of players who would use Champions League football as a precondition to come to Hotspur Way.
When asked if getting back into Europe’s premier club tournament could prove an important factor in convincing players to come to the club, the Tottenham head coach told Football.London: “I don’t want those players because they don’t want to come to Tottenham… they want to go to a Champions League club.
“I signed Micky van de Ven this year — he’s not a bad player, is he? And we were in the Champions League? No.
“I don’t want those players. That’s a beautiful discussion for me to have. That’s one of the discussions I have: Why do you want to come to Tottenham? Because if you want Champions League football and that’s all you want, you don’t want to come to Tottenham; you just want to go to a Champions League club.
“I want people to come to Tottenham who know this club, know the challenge we’ve got — and we do have a challenge, we’re different to other clubs in that we haven’t had success for a while — so I’m looking for a certain type of character.
“One that’s going to say: ‘You know what, they’re not in the Champions League but if I win something with them, that could mean something for my career and to me. So I’m up for that fight’.”
Tottenham won’t struggle to attract big players
Postecoglou pointed out that Spurs have not had any issues attracting top players to the club during the last two transfer windows despite the lack of Champions League football.
He continued: “I don’t think that makes a difference to me in terms of the players. We’ve had two windows so far and I haven’t had an issue bringing the players I want to this club even though we’re not in the Champions League.
“It’s about the growth of the team. Character is a big part of that, for sure. If their motivation is another other than joining this football club — I’m not saying that’s right or wrong — for me, that’s not the kind of players we need for where we are at the moment.
“It’s worked so far in the two windows we’ve had with the players we’ve brought in. They’ve all taken on the challenge of coming to a club that hasn’t got Champions League football. Hopefully, they can do something more than that.”
When asked what sort of conversations he will be having with potential signings, the 58-year-old responded: “It depends because they are not all the same, it is an understanding of the person. My only point about the Champions League was that if a player said to me ‘my proviso for me signing for you next year was whether you guys make the Champions League’ then I won’t sign him.
“There’s nothing wrong with having that ambition, if somebody wants to come to this club because of the Champions League that’s great, but if that’s going to be the determining factor then probably you are not going to fit into what I want to do right now. The reality is that this club needs guys who are going to be up for a fight because nothing is guaranteed here.
“This year we are not guaranteed Champions League football so that becomes part of the discussion – but it will only be part of the discussion if it’s brought up. Beyond that, you treat each individual case differently.”
Spurs Web Opinion
One can understand Postecolgou’s point about not wanting players whose only motivation is Champions League football. However, qualifying for the tournament will undoubtedly make the club a more attractive proposition.
When a player is choosing between Tottenham and another top club, being able to offer Champions League football could potentially be one of the factors that persuade him to pick the Lilywhites.