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Dispatches from #batcountry
Dispatches from Bat Country: July 2024 - Edition 1, Forrest Bat
My mama always said life was like a Country of Bats. You never know what you’re gonna get.
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"'What's wrong?' I yelled. 'We can't stop here. This is bat country!'"
- Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
July is here, and with it, the start of preseason. It’s been said that Ange Postecoglou wants the majority of his squad settled for the preseason fixtures, so needless to say the rumor mill is fully armed and operational, ready to build up all your hopes and dreams before blowing them to smithereens.
Here we cover all those rumors on which we normally wouldn’t report. The fringe cases. The names that spring up from untold lands, off the beaten path. We’ll discuss mostly incomings and try and focus on names we haven’t already talked about elsewhere on the site. Each name will be accompanied by a Guano Meter: a ranking out of 5 that instead of rating how likely we think it is to happen, it instead is the complete opposite. For example, a Guano Meter of 5/5 would be something like... Spurs making another signing before the first preseason fixture (sorrynotsorry).
Check out some of the previous editions here, as well as Nathan Bartel’s excellent piece that was the genesis of this series here.
Desire Doue
You want a dribbly boi? I’ll give you a dribbly boi
Young, exciting, and with a fantastic name, Doue has been lighting up Ligue 1 for Rennes while only 19
Speaking of, a team with names like Son, Desire, and Destiny sounds like something out of a bad Star Wars script; somehow, attacking football has returned
Seriously though, his dribbling numbers are off the charts, and his passing is aggressive as well; that’s often paired with a pretty poor defensive workrate, but not in Doue’s case: his numbers off the ball are also really good
Obviously, the move from Ligue 1 to the Premier League isn’t an easy one, and at his age there’s lots of talented players who have failed to make the jump
There’s a LOT of smoke around this one at the moment; every man and his dog, from ITKs to Alasdair Gold and Fabrizio Romano are saying we’re interested. Doesn’t appear to be any bids yet, though
There’s lots of interest, too - so he could be pricey... but maybe worth it?
Guano Meter: 2/5 - Honestly, this is close to a 1 with the amount of smoke - but there’s no formal negotiations underway yet by the sounds of things.
Jobe Bellingham
Hey Jobe, don’t make it bad. Take a football team and make it better... wait, you’re saying that’s not the lyrics?
Oh, it’s the OTHER Bellingham
This one’s supposed to be pretty good as well, playing a variety of roles but mostly as an attacking midfielder
He’s only 18, and came through the Birmingham youth setup before transferring to Sunderland at the start of last season
Much like his older brother, he has a decent workrate and a canny knack of popping up in the box to score. He’d be an interesting fit as one of Ange’s attacking 8’s
The rumors around the younger Bellingham actually go back a while, with Spurs linked as far back as January 2023 (and maybe even further), so they’ve clearly done their homework
The recent links are from Ed Aarons at The Guardian, so not the worst source here, but it does seem like other clubs are closer
Guano Meter: 3/5 - There’s definitely been real interest over the years, but it does feel like maybe Spurs’ youth midfielder stocks are starting to get a bit full due to the recent signings?
Menzi Mazwi
Don’t make the obvious joke don’t make the obvious joke don’t make the obvious joke
Seriously, though, I know next to nothing about this dude, his name’s the most noteworthy thing I can find - he doesn’t even have a Whoscored OR fbref profile for crying out loud
Interestingly enough, he’s another from the Birmingham youth system - and one of three players on this Bat Country edition with alliterative names. That’s not important, just interesting
He’s yet to play any senior minutes, currently looking to line up with the U21’s this coming season where he’ll probably play some combination of CM, LB, and LW - at least those are the positions on Transfermarkt, indicating he’s probably similar to a left-sided Archie Gray, but with a more front-footed approach
Reportedly he’s been offered a senior deal, but is yet to sign - hence the links away
This one is from Pete O’Rourke from Football Insider, whose record is EXTREMELY spotty. We see you, Sports Peeto
Guano Meter: 5/5 - This is what you read these pieces for. This link is so out of left-field, it’s like I made it up.
Daniel Kelly
Another 18-year-old midfielder with limited first-team exposure, this one at Celtic
Oh come on, you’re telling me we go from random Birmingham youth teamer to a rumor of a young dude at Ange Postecoglou’s old club? I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue
Still, it’s impressive that a guy as young as this has seen minutes at Celtic, with 4 sub appearances last season, in one of which he scored
In the one short highlights clip I’ve seen, Kelly appears like a pretty typical box-to-box mid: involved, good movement, and strong and composed in possession
He’s also not exactly playing at the highest level right now, so a move to Spurs would be a huge step up
This one comes from the Daily Record, in Scotland, who are... well, they’re a tabloid. Honest journalism ain’t what it used to be
Bayer Leverkusen apparently are interested as well, which is interesting - it’s some big names somebody who is a relative unknown is linked with, and I guess that’s what good scouts are for; or good agents
Guano Meter: 5/5 - Come on, did you expect anything different?
Hayden Hackney
This guy is a defensive midfielder, and man, if his name doesn’t ever make him sound like one
He’s 22, and at Middlesbrough where he came through their academy system; he’s turned out for the England U21 side as well, switching allegiances from Scotland U21 (after playing for England U15’s - seriously, make up your mind, dude)
It’s another week, another #6 linked who probably isn’t at the level Spurs would like; but beggars can’t be choosers and all that
That said, there’s a lot to like here:
Championship context aside, those on-ball stats are fascinating reading
Links on Hackney date back to December, albeit from the Daily Mail (yeah, not exactly what you’d call robust); however, the Evening Standard then picked it up in January, before the Northern Echo, a regional daily, started reporting it in May
It’s this latest report that has the most meat to it; it was also the genesis of the Rav van den Berg link from last week’s piece, and indicated we’ve been scouting Hackney for two years. It then followed that up by saying we could move for him. Nothing imminent, then
Guano Meter: 3/5 - This could have been higher, due to the amount of smoke - but when your best link only says “...considering a move...”, that’s not a whole lot to go on.
Guela Doue
It’s a duo of Doues!
This one’s name isn’t as cool, though
Nor is he as exciting - sorry, no “cool older brother” situation here, with the elder Doue a right back also at Rennes
Right back is probably slightly lower down the priority list now for Spurs as well, with recent signing Archie Gray likely able to deputize there
There are things about Guela’s profile, however, that intrigue: he likes to get on the ball, and like his brother, he likes to run at (and past) opposition players
His defensive numbers aren’t too shabby either; it’s his passing, though, that lets him down
Hey, I’ve seen this one before!
And honestly, after what I wrote above, does that surprise you at all?
That’s also why he may not work for Spurs; he doesn’t seem that suited to an inverted role
The links to Guela are much flimsier than those for Desire, and I wonder if some sort of “package deal” approach was floated but quickly dismissed
They come from TBR Football, who I’ve basically never heard of - and there seems to be way more traction around links to Roma and Galatasaray, so, never say never... but
Guano Meter: 4/5 - It’s possible this is something we looked at, at some point - but I don’t think it has ever gone beyond that. I hate to split a family apart.
That’s it for this installment. July promises great things, and I’ll be here every Sunday to dump all over them. Welcome to Bat Country.