In his sixth exclusive column for CaughtOffside, British agent, Haydn Dodge, discusses where Julian Nagelsmann is likely to end up next, whether Harry Kane will stay in London, what the future holds for calamitous Man United duo, Harry Maguire and David de Gea and whether Declan Rice and Mason Mount will finally team up once again, plus much more…
——
Tottenham need a clear out – is Nagelsmann the man to do it?
I gather that Daniel Levy and Julian Nagelsmann had a meeting during the last few days in London, so Nagelsmann seems to be wanting to take the Tottenham job. I don’t know whether he sees that as a project or whether he will get the assurances he needs from the board at Tottenham. If it were me and I was a manager going in there then I could probably discount a lot of players. They’ve got two goalkeepers that aren’t good enough, they’ve got a right-back on loan in France that’s going ok in Djed Spence, but Pedro Porro who they’ve signed hasn’t been great and Emerson Royal is saying that he wants to leave.
They’ve got four centre-halves that aren’t good enough and probably only one that is good in Romero, they’ve got a left-back who is 34 and isn’t good enough, Ryan Sessegnon isn’t good enough… so you need another left-back in the building. I think Sergio Reguilon is still contracted to the club and he’s nowhere near, Son’s been absolutely horrendous this year, Dier is dead wood, Sanchez is dead wood… so realistically Spurs only have Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – a decent but average Premier League player – and Rodrigo Bentancur. In their right mind, I’m not sure who takes the players that Tottenham currently have in that team.
You can’t self motivate people, you have to be motivated yourself to go and succeed. A lot of these players say that they want to go and play for X, Y and Z club, but you have to be self motivated if you want to succeed at the top of this division. If you look at the camaraderie between the Brighton players and Brentford players for example, that’s the reason why they’re doing so well.
Nagelsmann went into Bayern Munich and already had a stock of players that were serial winners, or had players if they weren’t serial winners at Bayern they had been in the past and with their country… it’s very clear to see that Spurs as a club does need a bit of a revamp. Whether or not Nagelsmann comes in with a sporting director for that, I don’t know. It all depends on one thing and one thing only for these men and that’s money. My issue is not that Tottenham haven’t spent, but they’ve done so in the wrong areas.
If I’m Harry Kane I’m sitting there going ‘why am I doing this to myself and if United are going to put a £100m bid in then why wouldn’t I go…’ Whether or not Kane’s representatives are good enough to go and push through the move that they would want, I don’t know. The fact that Pochettino is going in at Chelsea is a little bit of a killer for Tottenham fans already, and as a Spurs fan you’d rather he’d go to United than to Chelsea, because that would be the ultimate no no. The fact that Poch will probably attract someone like Kane, and the fact he’s already going there, for Tottenham fans it’s a bit of a kick in the teeth anyway. Clearly Tottenham have a big decision to make in the sense of what do they do moving forwards, because if there is to be a big squad overhaul it’s not going to happen overnight and it’s not going to happen in the summer.
——
Rice and Mount to get the band back together?
Declan Rice has always been a recruitment target for Liverpool, but I’m also being told that he would like to stay around London. I know Mason Mount was a big target for Liverpool around the same time, but both Mount and Rice may be Arsenal bound, and I know there are some communications with Arsenal to have those two based in their midfield. I think Rice suits Arsenal’s style of play and has everything needed as a modern day midfielder, but that equally applies to Chelsea and Liverpool. For example, If I’m a Liverpool fan and I’ve potentially got a midfield of Harvey Elliott, Declan Rice and Mason Mount, plus the other players they’ve already got there, that’s a real big positive and could potentially be an England midfield for years to come.
Jude Bellingham is always going to be in there for England of course, and I mentioned in my last piece that Liverpool went to their max with add-ons and everything – to around the £97m mark. I think there’s more than meets the eye here potentially though. If they can get both Rice and Mount for the same price as one player, two Premier League stars who’ve played over 200 games between them, it’s always going to be more beneficial. Then go out and get Bellingham next summer. I know Mason has signed with Virgil van Dijk’s agent, and his dad is looking to do the agency exam aswell for the longer term. That says that there could be some truth in the rumours of Mount to Liverpool and I know he’s been quite high on their priority list with Chelsea are willing to let him go. In fact, I do see a bit of an exodus at Chelsea, with maybe even Conor Gallagher on the way too. A lot of people are valuing Bellingham at £80m-£85m and I appreciate he’s a very, very good player and I really rate him, but I’m not sure Liverpool will overspend just for the sake of it. Once one deal like that gets agreed, the Man City’s and Real Madrid’s of this world will come in, and I don’t think Liverpool want to get into bidding wars.
Is Alexis Mac Allister another potential option for Liverpool down the line if they miss out out on a Rice or a Mount? I know everyone has been talking about Caicedo lately, but Mac Allister has just won a World Cup and keeps everything ticking. If you look at the way Brighton are set up, their whole recruitment strategy and the way that they sell players, Mac Allister fits in that model. He fits the way that Liverpool want to play. He’s very technical, keeps the ball down, and although he’s not going to be a Henderson, he’s not going to run ragged and run all over the pitch, he’s one that potentially links play together especially if you’re playing a 4-3-3. Much like Kante at Chelsea and Leicester when they interlock play but equally help to drive the team forward. Mac Allister can sit in front of the back four as well as being a box to box player which could be interesting.
—
Maguire is doomed at Man United and de Gea could follow him out of the exit door
Man United won’t be scared of dropping £30m-£50m on a keeper if they need to but it depends who they want. They won’t mind going losing a goalkeeper at a minimum retail value either, but David De Gea has been there quite a while so his value isn’t really determined on a transfer fee, it’s determined on his performances. I actually thought he did alright in the Brighton game. He made a couple of really good saves and I still think he’s a solid goalkeeper. Alisson Becker’s got a mistake in him, Aaron Ramsdale’s got a mistake in him, Hugo Lloris is in the top five worst goalkeepers in the Premier League in my opinion, and his number two isn’t much better. David Raya and Rob Sanchez are probably the next cusp of top level keepers coming through, but even those have got mistakes in them if they’re playing for teams who want to play a certain way. Liverpool have got Kelleher sitting on the bench who has been absolutely fantastic, and Dibu Martinez hasn’t set the world alight in the Premier League but he’s won the World Cup.
Centre-half issues become a more difficult conversation. Harry Maguire is one of four or five, with Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw who has been playing left side centre half, Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are injured… if you’re Man United, do you go into the summer and assess or do you say to Maguire that you need to go? I still think there’s an appetite for the likes of Palace, Villa, Leicester and maybe Sheffield United to take a punt, so potentially if he’s on too much money, a loan becomes the conversation, or Man United just sell him for £40m and they’ll have to play around with FFP over the next three years rather than the next one. Let’s be honest, he doesn’t even get in the top four centre-backs when everyone is fit, which says it all in terms of what the club think of Maguire and his performances. You don’t particularly want his atmosphere around the squad if he’s not playing well and not confident, and so he becomes surplus to requirements.