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MORE than £300million spent, 54 comings and goings, no points, no goals and no clear plan.

After all the early summer optimism, Tottenham look like a bit of a mess once again.

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If you are struggling to decide whether Spurs have had a brilliant transfer window or simply thrown heaps of money at a problem, there is an easy solution.

Deadline day finished with them signing Tosin Adarabioyo and Mykhailo Mudryk from Chelsea.

And would that have been in any master plan? Of course not.

Tosin gets a bit of flak for being signed largely for his personality but he has had a great career.

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Though his arrival still does not inspire much, especially given that Spurs have lost Cristian Romero.

Hundreds of millions have been spent but no one can still answer the simple question of who is going to score Tottenham ten goals this season?

To fork out that much money, on that many players, and not be able to confidently state someone will hit that number is troubling.

All the talk around Roberto De Zerbi’s side is how good they could be if everyone is available and in form — never a good place to be at that cost.

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It is just like when they had Ledley King at the back.

Everyone would wonder just how good it would be when they could get 20 games a season out of the defender at least.

Now De Zerbi is looking after a squad where around half of the players are in that same King boat.

The picture is not good after a messy end to the summer. There was a long chase for Cody Gakpo and Iliman Ndiaye was all but done before, somehow, ending up at Manchester City.

Ndiaye would have been a great addition. I played against him when he was at Sheffield United and he always stood out.

The move to Manchester is his biggest jump, so there will still be questions.

But he is a very brave player and on a whole different level to Mudryk.

Spurs have gone from nearly landing either Gakpo or Ndiaye to now having to sit back and watch City and Liverpool – who have since added Bradley Barcola – become stronger.

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Opponents appear stronger and, because of that whole mess, Richarlison is still at Spurs and absolutely raging.

My former team-mate has always been a character but De Zerbi has said he only wanted players around the place as long as they were fully committed.

Richarlison being left out of the Premier League squad certainly underlined that.

Mudryk is a whole different story. He may have done well under De Zerbi at Shakhtar Donetsk, but that was some years ago now.

And, as we all know, he has been banned for the past 18 months.

That isn’t just missing games due to injury or a crisis of form, he has not even been able to train with Chelsea’s squad. All alone for almost two years.

We can see he is rapid and in great physical shape – he clearly looks after himself – but the Ukrainian has not been getting any reps in when it comes to being match-ready.

The concern isn’t that he won’t be able to hack it in matches, just training day in, day out could be a struggle.

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Tottenham’s big bet is that De Zerbi, who touted him as a future Ballon d’Or winner, can return Mudryk to his pre-ban best. It is quite the gamble.

That is not the only thing they have risked on the Italian. De Zerbi made big requests this summer in terms of spending and they have all been delivered.

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There is nowhere for him to hide. You can’t blame the ownership as Daniel Levy is not there now. You can’t blame the lack of spending.

They are not going to blame the players as you ultimately need them to perform. So the only person who is liable to get the chop is the manager.


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