Ange Postecoglou has now delivered a very honest answer on the future of some of his players ahead of this summer’s transfer window.
Tottenham Hotspur‘s first season under the Australian is now coming to a close with just four games remaining in the Premier League.
And there has been a lot to come out of Ange Postecoglou‘s first term that should provide fans with optimism for the future of the club.
Although the season began in electric fashion, it was never going to be an overnight success with Postecoglou considering what he inherited.
The club have had to deal with the sale of Harry Kane and the Australian has only had two windows to shape this side into his own.
Yet Spurs still find themselves around the race for the top four despite the way their season has fizzled out over recent weeks.
Perhaps the biggest positive to take into the summer is there are clear steps which need to be taken for this side to improve.
Ange Postecoglou has now admitted there will be players moving on this summer for him to make the necessary changes needed to take this club forward.
Ange Postecoglou admits there’ll be players leaving this summer
The two transfer windows which the 58-year-old has had in north London have seen Daniel Levy provide him with adequate backing.
Spurs have brought in a number of players with the likes of James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Brennan Johnson also costing £40m+.
However, there is still work needing to be done with the club not providing a direct replacement for Kane after he departed for Bayern Munich.
However, it has to be remembered that not everything can be done in the space of just one season and this is a project that is going to require time.
Speaking on Friday from Hotspur Way in his pre-Liverpool press conference, the Australian has admitted there’ll be a number of players leaving this summer. “We need change, change has to happen,” he said.
“We’ve already made tough decisions, we let some experienced players leave the club at the beginning of the year, some by choice. But again, I feel like if we’re really going to change, that means change.”
“You have to make decisions. Some of those decisions aren’t that tough because whether it’s a player or a staff member, they realise it themselves and say ‘you know what, I’ve got a better path somewhere else and you’ve got a better path here’. So they’re not that tough, but some of them you have to make just because of change, not necessarily because they don’t fit in the picture but you still have to change.
“I’ve got to change this squad, I have to. Because I’ve got to build a squad I think can play our football. For that to happen, there has to be exits. I can’t just keep everyone here and keep bringing in players. So sometimes you let people go who you think ‘he’s a good player’ but how am I going to change if I don’t do that.”
Ange Postecoglou has shown he will sell the players he does not want
Although he has not even been at the club for 12 months, Postecoglou has shown his ruthlessness when it comes to picking his squad.
After his arrival, players like Eric Dier were quickly made aware that he did not have a place in Postecoglou’s plans and has already been moved on to Bayern Munich.
And that does not even cover the players who were immediately sent out on loan.
Then there are players like Giovani Lo Celso who can’t get a start ahead of James Maddison despite the Englishman’s dismal form.
Offloading every single unwanted player in the space of two windows is simply not viable as the club have to replace those players.
Doing so would have led to a huge amount of change and that could have provided more problems then it would have solved.
But gradually Spurs are getting there and Postecoglou clearly has plans around how he wants to mold this squad into his own.