I love the transfer windows because you just never know what’s around the corner. Like this story — one day after Tottenham Hotspur signed their left back of the future in Brazilian 19-year-old Souza [extreme tuba sounds here], David Ornstein, writing in The Athletic, that Spurs are now in active negotiations with Liverpool for a deal for 31-year-old LB Andy Robertson.
Like, what? WHAT?
Ornstein is the gold standard for transfer reporting, and states in his (paywalled) article that Robertson, whose Liverpool contract expires this June, was a target last summer as well. If that’s accurate it’s curious that this big of juicy gossip never escaped — unless Spurs were laying track for a free agent approach this summer, which Ornstein also states in his piece. Targeting Robertson now would be weird as we have Ben Davies at home, but with Big Ben out for a few months it suggests that Souza probably isn’t ready for prime time just yet and this is an insurance policy in case Destiny Udogie goes down with another injury, which he is wont to do.
Robertson is a highly experienced Premier League player and has won the title at Liverpool twice along with the Champions League. He, critically, can also pass the ball well despite not being a central midfielder. But his production and efficacy has dwindled over the past couple of years, he’s slipped behind Milos Kerkez in Liverpool’s lineup, and frankly he’s no longer a spring chicken.
I’ll admit that my initial reaction to this report was to shake my fists at the heavens and shout LANGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, but after taking some time to consider, I am willing to be open to the idea of bringing Robertson in as an experienced backup and rotation option. But a LOT depends on the conditions of the deal, which Ornstein apparently doesn’t have details of. I’d have to assume this is some sort of permanent transfer and not a loan which wouldn’t make much sense if Andy’s contract expires in six months, so it really comes down to how much Spurs are willing to pay for a guy they could hypothetically get for free in six months, and the length of the deal. A 2-3 year contract? Well, fine, I guess. Anything beyond that and I start getting antsy, unless the transfer fee is really good.
