Tottenham: N'Koudou twist; Swansea told Chadli price; reason behind Mitchell exit revealed

By John Arkless

Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of Marseille winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou has turned into one of the most drawn out transfer sagas of the summer. Three weeks ago, a deal for around £11 million with the Frenchman had been agreed, but a change in the hierarchy at the French club seemingly put pay to the deal, leaving N’Koudou marooned in London with the transfer no closer to being completed.

However, there has been another twist in the deal for N’Koudou, with a suggestion that the deal could now be an initial 12 month loan move, with an £11.2 million buy out clause at the end of it. It is another massive change in the structure of the deal, which Spurs initially tried to change by lowering the up front fee to £4 million, and paying the rest in add-ons, but it could be a deal that works for all parties.

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Spurs would still get their man, and have a view to keeping the winger long term if he continues to impress the club with his work rate and desire to improve as a footballer. They would even have a handy try before you buy option on the 21-year-old, meaning there could be a way out of the deal if the risk doesn’t pay off. Marseille would still get their money, and most importantly, N’Koudou could finally get back to playing football after spending the last few weeks twiddling his thumbs in a London hotel waiting for the deal to go through.

If an initial loan is what it takes to get the deal through, it needs to happen as soon as possible.

If the deal for N’Koudou is to be resurrected, it could mean that another winger will be on his way out of White Hart Lane this summer, and the name most heavily linked with departing the club is Belgian winger Nacer Chadli. Swansea City are reportedly leading the race to sign the winger, but may be put off by the £20 million price tag slapped on the Belgian by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

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A move for Chadli from Swansea seemed to be a good fit for all parties. The Belgian has slipped down the pecking order at Spurs, and a move to South Wales would have given him the opportunity for plenty of game time. Swansea are also in dire need of creativity after losing Andre Ayew, and Chadli could have provided a relatively cheap option to bring this into the side.

However, the club may be priced out of the move at £20 million, which just seems counter-intuitive from Spurs. Although Chadli would remain a useful squad player, there is little point of keeping him at the club if he is just going to be a wage vacuum on the bench, and it would also stifle the player’s development. Letting him go to Swansea for around £15 million would be a fair deal for everyone.

Finally, the reasons for the departure of Head of Recruitment Paul Mitchell  have been revealed, with the Express suggesting that the club’s failure to sign Michy Batshuayi was a big factor in his decision to leave.

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He also became disillusioned over the N’Koudou deal, and was fed up with Daniel Levy’s meddling in the transfer market.

After identifying talent such as Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld, both massive successes at the lane, losing Mitchell could have very negative long term impacts. To lose a member of staff over such a rubbish reason is a bit of a blow for Spurs.

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