You might have noticed that the transfer rumor stories here at Carty Free Towers has dried up significantly. There’s a reason for that. New sporting director Johan Lange has shut the door on virtually all leaks from the club, so the rumors that show up tend to be sourced from agents trying to get a deal for their client and those tend to show up via... let’s call them “lower tier” rumor websites.
So if you’re wondering why I’m writing an article on a rumor from Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke, keep that context in mind, because we’re not getting the pipeline of juicy gossip from club sources like we were used to under Fabio Paratici in past seasons. Anyway, the rumor is that Spurs are looking at their defensive options in the January transfer window and have made an inquiry to Atalanta for a potential loan for English central defender Ben Godfrey.
Godfrey is a former Everton player who moved to Italy this summer, and he’s barely played — two appearances for a grand total of 19 minutes. He is positionally flexible and an Atalanta report from this summer suggests he’s strong in the air, but he’s also pretty mid with very few indications from his statics that he’s especially fast or particularly good on the ball, both things that are pretty important in an Ange-Ball high defensive line. Everton supporters didn’t seem too broken up by his departure and seemed plenty happy to let him go for £12m.
With all respect to good ol’ Sports Peeto, I can certainly understand Spurs having the impulse to look at all their options going forward. It’s not a great thing, as we saw last night, to be without three of your four central defense options during the busiest part of the season. But Godfrey would be the literal definition of a warm body in reserve. I don’t hate the idea of a loan signing but Godfrey on a short term deal doesn’t help with the Europa squad list, and it’s not clear how much he’d play anyway considering Cuti Romero and Micky van de Ven are expected back in the new year. Is Ben Godfrey a better option than Archie Gray out of position or Alfie Dorrington? Maybe, especially if it allows Archie to transition to central midfield. Is it worth it? I am really unsure.
It’s a weird rumor and a bad source, and we’re surely scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to transfer rumors right now. It’s fair to say we have really no idea what Lange and Company have planned for the squad next month. I guess it’s worth wondering whether kicking the can down the road for half a season is better than identifying and potentially overspending for a priority defensive target now. I’m leaning towards not.