It has happened countless times during the last few years, Liverpool identify a player and look close to sealing a deal only forTottenham to swoop in and steal him away under their noses. As Brazilian star Willian appears to be edging closer to London rather than Merseyside, are Liverpool fast becoming Spurs’ Premier League scouting team?
While the decadent new Hotspur Way would appear to be a state of the art training facility, it is actually a façade apparently concealing something much more sinister. Deep within the confines lies an ingenious new project set up by Daniel Levy himself to ruthlessly plunder his near challengers of all their prospective signings. The scout scouting unit may well be in its early days, but it has already gained great acclaim from pillaging the likes of Sigurdsson, Dempsey and now Willian from the clipboards of Liverpool agents up and down the country.
After all, why would Spurs ever need their own scouts when Levy has clearly worked his magic here?
Liverpool fans may like to believe the conspiracy theories; possibly only to hide their own transfer frustrations.
The reason Tottenham and Liverpool appear to chase similar targets is unlikely to be the result of underhand subterfuge, but instead some much more obvious reasons.
Both clubs display a number of similarities to explain why such a pattern has emerged. Rodgers and Villas-Boas are both keen to play a brand of attack-minded passing football that leads them to a certain crop of players. It has been well publicised that both teams have been continuously in the market for a number of midfielders to this end, and naturally there are a finite number of these players.
Both clubs display a number of similarities to explain why such a pattern has emerged. Rodgers and Villas-Boas are both keen to play a brand of attack-minded passing football that leads them to a certain crop of players. It has been well publicised that both teams have been continuously in the market for a number of midfielders to this end, and naturally there are a finite number of these players.
Similarly the clubs have relatively comparable financial constraints. Whilst neither side has the muscle of say the sheikhs at Manchester City, they still have a certain freedom to go out and spend big in the transfer market. Interest in similar players at similar prices, is a pattern emerging here?
Currently both clubs also have not too dissimilar league standing, with Spurs sitting slightly prettier over previous seasons. This difference probably explains why the North Londoners have proven themselves more successful at ensuring deals get across the line.
It may be a painful reality for Liverpool fans but in the current state of play Tottenham is a more enticing prospect for potential signings. Able to offer the European football that Liverpool no longer can, there appears to be genuine momentum at a club where the strategy for the future laid out by Villas-Boas looks to be the more fruitful.
Liverpool fans also appear fixated with the players that Spurs have apparently stolen away from them, rather than also considering those that both sides have missed out on and the few that Liverpool pipped Spurs to. The likes of Christian Eriksen and Henrikh Mkhitaryan look to have evaded the clutches of both sides, the latter already favouring Dortmund. Similarly what of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll? During Spurs’ desperate search for strikers these were two names that were high on the clubs transfer list only to end up in Merseyside.
Do Liverpool fans still believe their historical pull is enough to make transfers a reality? If footballers really made moves based on history Nottingham Forest would be littered with a clutch of world-class names and clearly they aren’t.
The reality now is that both clubs for the reasons I have mentioned are interested in a small number of similar players. As it stands Spurs have a much greater chance of reaching the promised land of the Champions League and appear to be willing to match Liverpool financially. Add to this the pull of London and the notoriously sharp negotiating of both Daniel Levy and Franco Baldini and you can easily see why such a pattern has emerged.
I don’t know if it is envy or just general frustration from Liverpool fans, but this conspiracy held by a small minority is totally ridiculous. If the Liverpool scouting system was so worth imitating then I am sure every club up and down the country would have one of Levy’s crack squads on the case.
Have Liverpool fans gone mad with paranoia or is there something more to this?
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