Thomas Frank makes sly dig at Arsenal’s spending ahead of a crucial North London Derby for his side in the league.
Tottenham not close to spending £100m on one player like Arsenal, says Thomas Frank.
According to Thomas Frank, Tottenham is far from following Arsenal’s lead by investing £100 million in a single player.
Following Daniel Levy’s dismissal as chair in September and the Lewis family’s decision to choose a new leadership group, Spurs have gone through a period of transition. It’s unclear if they will be able to challenge Arsenal for the Premier League title, but plans to grow the company are meant to result in more athletic success.
When they paid £105 million to acquire Declan Rice from West Ham in 2023, Arsenal, who were leading coming into Sunday’s north London derby, demonstrated their intent. The £60 million Richarlison purchase made by Spurs in 2022 is a record.
Frank questions whether Ange Postecoglou, his predecessor, was correct when he said last year that Spurs would never spend £100 million on a single player. He asked, “In the next 50 years?” “Yes, then.
“To build, you need a combination of time and doing the processes. Depending on where the team come from, of course. But to stay up there is still very difficult. So time and process, and, then of course, investment.
“If you want success in football, you need to invest in players. Hopefully do it cleverly and we want to do it smart so we don’t invest too much on the wrong players. But you need to invest, £100m, I don’t know. Let’s see. I don’t think we are close to spending £100m, put it that way.”
Frank considered whether Spurs, who are fifth, would need to spend heavily to catch Arsenal. “I’m a big believer that we need to develop the players we have,” he said. “If you can develop players, not all of them should cost £60m, £70m, £80m, £90m, whatever the amount. I don’t think anybody has done that. Liverpool didn’t do that to get to the top. Even [Manchester] City hasn’t done that.
“You need to be good at developing the players, which I believe we are. You also need to invest in the right potential of a player. Declan Rice is a good example. How old was he when he joined Arsenal? Twenty-four or 25? That’s important. Nobody achieves the top without investing.”