Speaking recently on the Football Writers Podcast, Darren Lewis discussed Tottenham Hotspur’s failure to sign now-Manchester United midfielder, Donny van de Beek.
Having been an Ajax player since 2008, Van de Beek has highly impressed throughout his time with the Dutch side.
In total, the 23-year-old played 175 matches for De Godenzonen, scoring 41 goals and providing 34 assists along the way.
The midfielder was one of a number of young Ajax players who impressed during the club’s run to the semi-final of the Champions League in the 2018/19 season, with Van de Beek scoring three goals, providing two assists and averaging a highly impressive WhoScored match rating 7.16 over his 12 fixtures in the competition that year.
Although the 23-year-old remained in Holland a season longer than the likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, who moved to Juventus and Barcelona respectively, interest had been high in Van de Beek, with all of Spurs, Real Madrid and Manchester United linked with a move for the midfielder.
However, it was United who ended up prising the £39.6 million-rated man away from Ajax, in a deal said to be worth an initial £35 million with a further £5 million in add-ons.
And, speaking on the Football Writers Podcast, Lewis claimed that Tottenham missing out on Van de Beek is evidence of the club finishing outside the top-four last season.
He said: “He was one of the players that was expected to leave Ajax after their Champions League run last year [2018/19], and he stayed for an extra season.
“He adds variation, he adds depth, he adds goals from midfield to the Manchester United midfield, and I think he’s a super signing.
“I’m amazed, really, that it took so long for a club to prise him away this summer. Tottenham had been in for him, but they can’t offer Champions League football. That’s the first blow, really, in their bid to try and compete with the top teams and are paying the penalty for not finishing in the top four.”
Is Lewis correct in saying that Spurs are less appealing without Champions League football?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
From Lewis’ comments, then, he would appear to believe that the club missing out on the signing of Van de Beek this summer is evidence of the club’s poor league form last season when Spurs finished in sixth place.
So far this summer, Tottenham have made the signings of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton and Matt Doherty from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and, considering both of these clubs finished below Spurs last season, Lewis could have a point in his suggestion that the club’s appeal to a higher calibre of player may have faded somewhat due to their failure to qualify for Champions League football.