Two centre backs out, two in, two windows

Over the next two windows Tottenham are in the market for two centre-halves to replace Vlad Chiriches and Younes Kaboul.

Two centre backs out, two in, two windows


Vlad Chiriches has been a disaster from almost the moment he arrived, conning some with a single piece of skill and sending alarm bells ringing in others, including Ledley King who suggested to the press he should cut that out. Unfortunately he still tries to dribble out of defence from his own box when surrounded by players or try to be too clever when a clearance is required.

His lack of ability in the air, poor game reading, major deficiency on his left hand side and panic mode mean he has too much to work on. As I and others suspected, given that he possesses ball skills and likes to get forward, he looks like a better right-back than a centre-back. He has had a couple of decent games there are one where he struggled but it's a new position so that is only to be expected.

At the moment he sits on the subs bench covering Walker and the two centre-backs because Younes Kaboul has shot himself in the foot.

A captain you can't rely on, a captain who is against what you are trying to do, a captain who causes mental problems rather than having the right mental attitude is not much use to a head coach. We had the smoke screen of an injury when he missed one game but, which was easy to see through knowing he'd had a meeting with Pochettino.

Now we are told it is for playing reasons, tactical reasons and it is. He has made a major mistake every game, apart from the Arsenal game, and demonstrated while he has a burning desire to win on the field, he doesn't know how to channel it. Most importantly though he does not have a winning mentality and can't see that it's needed. Now for those of you confused a burning desire to win on the field and a winning mentality are not the same thing.

A burning desire to win on the field means you try your best when playing but a winning mentality means you work hard every day to improve your own game to be the best player you can be. Couple that with a burning desire to win when on the field of play and you have a player. His contract runs until 2016 and he hasn't featured in the last seven Premier League games, not even being in the squad for four of those, including the last three.

Tottenham need to replace these two over the next two transfer windows before deciding on Jan Vertonghen's future. As such Paul Mitchell has been using his data and the scouting system, together with Baldini's contacts, to source replacements.

We already know that Pochettino wants Hector Moreno from Espanyol and that he can now be bought rather cheaply. Clubs in Spain have to consistently sell players to survive with bank loans and tax bills to pay, thanks to an EU instruction. They had hoped to maximise his price, was £8 million ($12.45m - €10.20m), after the World Cup but he broke his leg.

Since then Moreno has made a tentative recovery, he has sat on the bench three times in La Liga and had a 30 minutes substitute appearance when Barcelona were thrashing Espanyol 5-1. He played in the second-leg of the Spanish cup on December 17th and 74 minutes of the first leg. Tottenham obviously want to see how he has recovered and then can make a decision whether to arrange a winter or summer transfer window purchase.

Pochettino has a great working relationship with Espanyol and Moeno wants to play for Pochettino so everything is ready and waiting for a deal. He is probably currently worth about £6 million ($9.33m - €7.65m), transfermarkt value him at £6.16 million ($9.58m - €7.85m).

Levy will want around £6 million ($9.33m - €7.65m) for Younes Kaboul, whose value will probably be more like £4 million ($6.22m - €5.10m) to buyers and to recoup the £8.36 million ($13.01m - €10.66m) he paid for Vlad Chiriches.

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Players sales need to help fund purchases, there have been reports of an additional £20 million ($31.12m - €25.50m) available for transfer. That all needs to be borne in mind when looking at targets and squad requirements. It's clear then that we are not going to be paying £10 million ($15.56m - €12.75m) for a player from weak football, thus the prices quoted for 23-year-old Dutch centre-back Virgil Van Dijk from Celtic, who is not even an international yet, are way off the mark. Half that fee would be far more realistic.

We have been linked with a summer transfer window move for 24-year-old Palermo defender Ezequiel Munoz, who is refusing to sign an extension to his contract which runs out in June. Currently transfermarkt have his value at £3.34 million  ($5.20m - €4.26m) but he could arrange a deal in January for a free deal in the summer and that would suit Spurs.

Given that there is a good deal to be had we are not his only suitors of course, AC Milan and Juventus are both said to be monitoring the Argentinians situation.

Whatever deals we eventually do they will have to be at the right price, I'm looking forward to seeing Paul Mitchell's solutions.