5 Players Tottenham Should Let Go in the 2015 Summer Transfer Window
The latest new signing set to arrive at Tottenham Hotspur in the 2015 summer transfer window has already been confirmed. The north London club announced the signing of Austrian Cologne defender Kevin Wimmer. He follows Milton Keynes Dons midfielder Dele Alli, signed in January but loaned back for the remainder of the season.
Bar the retiring Brad Friedel, at the time of writing, it is not clear who will be leaving White Hart Lane to make way for any new signings or promotions from the academy.
The following article looks at five players Tottenham should look to let go ahead of the new season.
Partly to help facilitate head coach Mauricio Pochettino's desired changes for his second season in charge but also for the good of the men themselves as they find their careers stagnating or in risk of going backward.
First up, a striker whose close to four years at Spurs have never been short of complicated.
Emmanuel Adebayor
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Emmanuel Adebayor's 2014 began in promising fashion. Revitalised under Tim Sherwood, he made up for time lost as a result of disagreements with previous head coach Andre Villas-Boas by scoring 14 goals from December to the season's end. That was a solid return for a player who appeared just once prior to then.
Sherwood's replacement, Pochettino, understandably backed Adebayor to pick up where he left off in the latest campaign. Examples of his goal-getting—capping off Spurs' 4-0 win over Queens Park Rangers and the opener in October's loss to Newcastle United—and ability to lead the line—a hard-working display in the 1-0 defeat of Southampton—were to prove too infrequent, though.
Soon overshadowed by the increasingly prolific, more consistent Harry Kane, Adebayor ended the year out of the team.
He would appear just five times after Christmas, making a minimal impact when he did. How badly his personal issues—resulting in him twice being granted leave to return home—impinged on his performances will only be known to the 31-year-old. Regardless, the lay of the land at Spurs is such that Adebayor's moving on is best for both parties.
Pochettino needs the space for a forward he is more likely to use, while getting rid of, or at least reducing their contribution to, Adebayor's reported weekly wages of £170,000, per the Daily Mail's Neil Ashton, would not hurt.
The player himself is too good not to be playing somewhere—when he is motivated anyway. Despite the periodic difficulties occurring during his Spurs stay, 42 goals in four seasons should be enough to tempt some club to bid for him.
Roberto Soldado
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Pochettino will not move on both Adebayor and Roberto Soldado without securing a replacement or two in attack. Leaving Kane as the only recognised striker would be incredibly risky, even with Tottenham's abundance of attacking-midfield options to call on in supporting roles—or a highly regarded academy striker such as Shaquile Coulthirst.
Nonetheless, it is hard to envisage Soldado at White Hart Lane next season.
His second campaign in England was more underwhelming than his first, scoring just five times. Particularly lacklustre latter appearances did not give the impression of a player desperate to make an impact, either—though he was often coming off the bench late in games.
Spurs' failure to bring in forward targets might see Soldado remain at the club, in which case, the possibility of a resurgence is always there.
Should they secure new offensive weapons, though, the club must look to get as much back of the £26 million they paid for the Spaniard as they can. However, now that he's 30 years old, they would do well to secure over £10 million. In the process, Soldado needs to find a destination where he can regain the form that inspired Spurs to spend so heavily on him in the first place.
Younes Kaboul
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Not involved after January or included in Tottenham's travelling party for the post-season tour of Malaysia and Australia, the writing is on the wall for Younes Kaboul's career in north London.
The centre-back began 2014-15 as captain and a regular starter. A strong show of faith from his new boss, Kaboul had ample opportunities to prove both roles were deserved. Instead, he was out of the team by November and barely featured thereafter.
The 29-year-old's strength, aerial presence and top-flight experience still mark him out as a decent option for a team looking to bolster their defence.
Spurs have gone for a younger model in Wimmer, though, and anyone else added at the back will be required to provide the focus and leadership Kaboul could not.
Vlad Chiriches
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Vlad Chiriches was another player who was left behind for Tottenham's post-season friendlies—or "given permission to remain at the Training Centre," as the club's official website put it.
Sent off in Spurs' antepenultimate match—a 3-0 away loss to Stoke City—the dismissal concluded a mini spring run that summed up the Romanian's time at the club well. The good—disciplined, alert work in a 0-0 draw at Burnley—the bad—nervy and erratic covering at right back for the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa—and the ugly—said sending off for two bookable offences.
Jeered by some fans as he was withdrawn during the Villa loss, the 25-year-old's career is likely best served by a transfer elsewhere. A fresh start to hone the good parts of his game, such as his tackling and mobility, while working on the concentration and positional issues that have undermined him when not sufficiently shepherded by team-mates during matches.
All that will be difficult in a back-up role at Spurs.
Pochettino may be tempted to keep Chiriches around to cover centrally and at right-back. But the decision to leave him behind for the recent tour and play midfielder Benjamin Stambouli at centre-back suggests a decision about the Romanian's future has already been made.
Etienne Capoue
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Like Kaboul, Etienne Capoue did not feature for Tottenham after January's FA Cup fourth-round exit at the hands of Leicester City. Unlike his compatriot, it was not so much because of him as it was those around him.
Capoue's good pre-season form earned him a regular starting spot in defensive midfield. Although not dominant, he was a reliable presence and certainly put in some good performances. He notably kept the Spurs-fan baiting Jack Wilshere in his pocket before the England international was hauled off during September's 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
Wanting more urgency from his midfield moving forward, Pochettino was not quite to get that from Capoue.
The desire of Ryan Mason, the bite of Stambouli and the increasingly influential Nabil Bentaleb all offered more in that regard. Later on in the season, despite neither becoming first-team fixtures, Mousa Dembele and Paulinho's more expansive styles evidently appealed more to the boss than the more strictly defensive Capoue.
That might be unfair as a complete assessment of the Frenchman's game, given he was doing what was asked of him. Capoue is more than capable of bringing the ball out at his feet, while only Dembele had a better average pass accuracy than him in the Premier League for Spurs, per Squawka.
But it is all to say that for the 26-year-old to truly find himself as a player, he is going to have to try his luck elsewhere. With Alli set to join and others such as Christian Eriksen and Alex Pritchard set to influence how the midfield will be shaped, there is clearly no room for Capoue in north London anymore.
Wait and See Elsewhere
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Looking elsewhere in Tottenham's squad, there will almost certainly be further departures to make space for new faces in Pochettino's squad.
In midfield for instance, even if Capoue were to leave, Spurs used nine others in the position throughout 2014-15, including wide men Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela. That is not counting Alli, as well as others out on loan, including academy products Tom Carroll and Alex Pritchard, as well the more experienced Lewis Holtby and Aaron Lennon.
The latter two are almost certainly set to depart—Holtby's loan deal with Hamburg was agreed with a view to a permanent move—but that still leaves 12 players here. Pochettino will not need or want them all. Some players, midfielders or otherwise, may wish to leave too, and influencing all this is the requirement of fulfilling the Premier League's squad criteria.
While others should join the previous five listed in this article in exiting White Hart Lane, at this stage, it is difficult to pinpoint who will be cut loose.
Paulinho has not been a major success, but Pochettino called on him more than he did Stambouli later in the season—the latter is a player signed on his watch. Dembele's season was quiet, but there is no doubting the skilful Belgian's talent.
Pre-season, which will include participation in the Audi Cup alongside Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and AC Milan, should make for fascinating viewing as we begin to find out just who is in Pochettino's plans.
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