Manager Ange Postecoglou has revealed that he was considering signing four players during his second summer transfer window at Tottenham, but the club did not pursue any of the options.
Ange Postecoglou strongly criticized Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer policy (Image: The Overlap)
Manager Ange Postecoglou has criticized Tottenham’s transfer policy, revealing that the club had in mind a list of four candidates they rejected during the summer of 2024.
Postecoglou, 60, was sacked as Tottenham’s head coach last summer after two years in north London. The Australian led Spurs to a fifth-place finish in his first year in charge and ended the club’s 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League last season.
However, Spurs decided to make a change by sacking Postecoglou and replacing him with Thomas Frank, who had a brilliant spell at Brentford. Postecoglou had a 46.5 per cent win rate at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, winning 47 and drawing 15 of the 101 games he played in charge.
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But this time, after describing Tottenham as “not a big club”, at least in terms of wages and transfer fees, Postecoglou has slammed his former club, claiming they had tried to target Pedro Neto, Brian Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi during the 2024 summer transfer window, all of which fell through.
Director Postecoglou told Overlap newspaper: “When I finished fifth at the end of my first year, I thought, ‘How can I go from fifth to being a challenger?'” he said. Well, we had to sign players who could play in the Premier League, but we finished fifth that year and didn’t play in the Champions League, and we didn’t have any money, so we ended up signing Dom Solanke, who I love, and three teenagers (Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Wilson Odbert).
“At the time, I was looking at Pedro Neto, Mbeumo, Semenyo and Marc Gehi, because I said if we want to go there from fifth, that’s what the other big clubs are doing at that point.”
Ange Postecoglou won the Europa League with Tottenham. (Image: 2025 Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA)
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“These three teenagers are outstanding young players and I think they’ll be great players for Tottenham, but they’re not going to go from fifth to fourth to third. But what came out of the club was that we’re a club that can compete on every front.”
Postecoglou added: “Tottenham as a club as a whole, we still thought we were one of the big boys, but I don’t think that’s actually the case. In my experience over the last two years, Arsenal are spending £100m on Declan Rice and I don’t think Tottenham are doing that. Maybe we don’t know now.”
After losing England captain Harry Kane to German giants Bayern Munich, Tottenham spent more than £210 million in Postecoglou’s first summer in charge, signing James Maddison, Pedro Polo, Brennan Johnson, Mickey van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Guglielmo Vicario, Alejo Bellis, Ashley Phillips and Manar Solomon.
James Maddison was one of Ange Postecoglou’s first Tottenham signings. (Image: Getty Images)
This support has given Spurs a great start to Postecoglou’s reign, with Tottenham now top of the Premier League with 20 points after eight games. Tottenham ultimately fell down the table, finishing in fifth place, two points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, but there was a real sense and belief that if the Australian was strengthened in his second summer, they could build something special in north London.
However, Tottenham missed out on Champions League qualification and spent less than £80m on transfers, with Dominic Solanke their most high-profile addition. Other players to feature were teenagers Archie Gray, Lukas Bergvall and Wilson Odbert, but Spurs were not without an important first-teamer like Kane.
Although Spurs won the Europa League, their performance and results in the Premier League significantly declined, finishing in 17th place, their lowest final position since 1976/1977. This contributed to Postecoglou’s departure, with then-Spurs chairman Daniel Levy feeling a change was needed.
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