Pundit claims Tottenham have learned from West Ham’s Lingard mistake

Former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur have learned from West Ham’s loan situation with Jesse Lingard.

Tottenham have made their first signing of the summer as they announced Atalanta keeper Pierluigi Gollini on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy. The Italian also becomes the first Spurs signing of the Nuno Espirito Santo and Fabio Paratici era.

The option to buy next summer for the 26-year-old is said to be £13m, with Sky Sports claiming that the deal will become an obligation to buy if the goalkeeper makes 20 appearances. It is also reported that Spurs have an option to extend the loan for another year under certain circumstances.

90min reported recently that West Ham re-signing Lingard, who enjoyed a superb loan spell with the club last season, scoring nine times in 16 games – remains a top priority for the Hammers this summer.

However, a return to East London is more difficult for West Ham as they did not attach an option to buy on the loan deal.

McAvennie claims that Tottenham have avoided that error in their latest transfer, he told Football Insider: “There are a few managers like that, who like to look at players before they buy.”

“Allardyce used to do that. If he wasn’t sure if the money was right he would loan them for six months and have a look.

“I’m not fond of getting players on loan unless there’s an injury crisis.

“But a loan deal with the option to buy, I can understand that. The player may not fit in, he might not hack it.

“It means you can get rid of him instead of having a player tied down for another four years.

“It’s a gamble, maybe they have learned from what happened with West Ham and Lingard.

“Why there wasn’t an option to buy in that deal I will never know. What a massive error that was.

“Is he going to improve the team? You’ll know that after a few months. It makes sense.”

SpursWeb Opinion

Everything about the Gollini deal is smart and makes sense. It’s a loan, so no money has been risked. If he plays more than 20 games, which would make him our first choice keeper, we pay the money next year. Even if we are unsure, we can loan him in again. West Ham should take some tips.

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