Darren Bent believes that Tottenham Hotspur need to sign a big name player such as Philippe Coutinho to prove that they mean business.
Coutinho is currently on loan at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, but he’s also failed to force his way into the starting XI in Bavaria (transfermarkt).
Spurs were heavily linked with a move for the Barcelona player during the summer window with former boss Mauricio Pochettino said to have been left fuming at the club’s failure to bring the Brazilian back to the Premier League (The Sun).
Pochettino worked with Coutinho at Espanyol and was said to have been keen to have brought him to North London.
Spurs were also linked with a move for Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, only once again for a move to fail to materialise (BBC).
Bent has questioned whether Spurs were genuinely in the market for Coutinho and Dybala or whether it was just a case of trying to keep the North London faithful entertained.
However, the former Spurs striker believes that the club need to make a marquee addition to their squad to outline their ambition.
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He told Football Insider when asked about Coutinho: “That’s the one you’ve got to get, you need them type of signings coming through the door because he is definitely somebody who is exciting, can do good things.
“He’s that world-class name that people will be like: ‘Okay, Spurs are taking it seriously.’ You look at last season, we thought they were linked with a couple of superstars – Coutinho, Dybala – and they couldn’t get it over the line.
“Were they really interested in getting these players in or was it just to appease the crowd but obviously, if they can somehow get this guy in the door, then what a signing that is.”
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