Spurs eye Barcelona Starlets

[spursman18]

Where have we seen this headline before

Spurs eye Barca starlets | Tottenham Hotspur News, Fixtures, Results, Transfers | Sky Sports

Tottenham could be set to raid Barcelona for up to three of their defensive starlets.

Spurs have already been linked with Martin Montoya and Marc Batra, but skysports.com understands they are also in the market for left-back Carles Planas.

20-year-old Planas is currently with Barca's B side and is a Spanish Under-21 international.
The player is contracted to Barca until next summer, but they are yet to decide on his future.

Sources believe they could allow him to leave with the option of a buy-back within two seasons.

Planas' progress in recent years was hampered by injury but he is now fully fit and impressing for the second-string.

Both Batra and Montoya have made their first-team debuts, but could also be available this summer and Spurs are monitoring the situations of all three players.

[IH8GOONS]

Don't get me wrong its good to be looking at young talent from barcelona (if we indeed are) but I would rather us looking at more english or british based talent. Recently, the amount of british based players we have has decreased by quite a bit.

[gabrielconroy]

Anyone know how good these guys are? We need a long term solution at the back, not another stop gap.

[BlueCrew LA]

I figure if we do sign them they would have a buy-back clause similar to Bojan which that article alludes to. Thing is, even with Bojan's contract Roma have the option to sign him permanently but the contract is structured to let the player make the decision. Here's what I posted in the Bojan thread, I thought this might come up again.

Serie A strikes again, nobody makes more complicated contracts/transfers then that league. The terms of the Bojan deal to Roma are very odd.

Basically Roma paid Barca £10m to loan the player for 2 years. Then in 2013, Roma have first rights to pay an additional £24m to make the move permanent. Regardless whether Barca decide to bring him back or Roma don't want to keep him, Barca must pay Roma £11.5m.

So all thinks considered at it's core Barca are paying Roma £1.5m to loan Bojan. I guess their rational is that he'll be 22, with a lot of games under his belt and they'll have a better idea of what to do with him. From Roma POV if he turns out to be the next Villa they can pay the extra £24m.

Like I said, weird. I couldn't imagine Levy sanctioning such a deal. Even though there's minimal risk, clearly this was engineered because Bojan doesn't want to play anywhere besides Barca permanently. Bojan and his people would have had to been complicit in this deal. If he didn't like the terms he could have demanded to be sold outright. I'm kind of glad we didn't sign him because in a few years if successful it would be a Fabregas situation.

I have to admit I misjudged Bojan, I knew he was a good player but I didn't think he can play RW/ST, I was wrong. He's been great every time he's started for Roma playing all across the attacking positions. He would have been a good signing, but like back then I still think the terms aren't favorable to us. Barca clearly have adopted the tact to not release any of their youth players without conditions, they don't want another Fabregas. So all these deals are structured to give the player the decision. If you go to watch a game in Barcelona you'll quickly realize why it's hard for any player to turn them down. So even though in theory we would have a chance to sign these players if successful, I can't see it actually happening.

Bojan is enjoying his time in Roma, and hopefully when it comes time Roma will have it's new stadium, but I don't think he stays permanently.

[BlueCrew LA]

P.S. Off-topic but another player I misjudged was Osvaldo. The way he plays would fit perfectly in our system. Very physical target man, great in the air, and he's a bastard for a goal.

[BigDub]

We could use some Spanish players. I've heard they tend to be pretty good.

[PhildoVT]

I would definitely take Batra, but I don't see barca letting him go permanently given that Puyol only has a few years left in him

[SweSpurs]

I've only seen Montoya play and he is good. Not as god as Walker, not yet as good as Corluka but on his way. Fast and good passing

[AmericanHotspur]

I'd take Bartra.

Montoya... Is he better than Naughton, let alone Walker or Corluka? This Planas guy I know nothing about.

Why don't we try to get Defoleu or Sergi Roberto or someone in a Cesc-type steal? I know it's a "violation" but tbh Barca already has enough talent...

[Maro]

I see these moves as Fabregas experiments tbh. Chelsea got Romeu for the same purpose too.

Think it that way, Barcelona is maybe the best big club when it comes to youth program. Do you believe that they would let their brightest talents to join us or other teams? They made that mistake once and that cost them 30m euros.

I agree that Spurs should look for UK based talents first. We really need some new blood following the King's path.

[The Sundance Yid]

The players that are being linked all have contracts running out at the end of the season. Bartra is going to be a very solid centre back but he has a while to go before he will command a starting role with even us. Montoya is also a good player. Not as attacking as Alves would be for Barca but I reckon he will be more utilised as centre back like Pujol was. Planas I haven't seen so I can't pass comment. I can't see Gerard Defoleu going anywhere, Barca have been talking about this guy for at least the last two years so if they are going to let him go then I would imagine his development didn't go as well as hoped. He made his debut last week in which he was very willing, and try taking players on every chance he got. Sergi Roberto just signed a contract until 2015 so we can forget about him. He is going to be class by the way. If we were willing to pay for any of the players on the La Masia production line though it would have to be Rafinha. He is Thiago's younger brother but looks just as impressive. Anyway, I suspect most of these lads will sign new deals as they have all had an opportunity and will get many more.

[MagnaThor]

P.S. Off-topic but another player I misjudged was Osvaldo. The way he plays would fit perfectly in our system. Very physical target man, great in the air, and he's a bastard for a goal.

I agree, I too misjudged him, but I'm not so sure he's worth the price Espanyol asked. Weren't they asking 15 million pounds from us? In the last game vs Milan, he was the only Roma player to not be complete crap (until Bojan came on) and played with some heart in him. He definitely has an eye for goal, with a monster shot.

[MagnaThor]

I'd take Bartra.

Montoya... Is he better than Naughton, let alone Walker or Corluka? This Planas guy I know nothing about.

Why don't we try to get Defoleu or Sergi Roberto or someone in a Cesc-type steal? I know it's a "violation" but tbh Barca already has enough talent...

How do you guys know these players? Do you watch Barca B games online?

And this has got me thinking. If Barca want to do these type of deals with seemingly the vast majority of their youths... how are they even going to have room to hold them in the squad even if they do become good? I mean how many players that I know of already just last year alone have done these type of deals... Rochina at Blackburn, Romeu at Chelski, and Bojan at Roma. That's just 3 players in 1 year, that I know of. If they up that number, and season by season... they wouldn't even have a spot for them on the bench, especially considering the amount of under age 30 stars they have at that club... And that's assuming they don't buy any players.

[AmericanHotspur]

How do you guys know these players? Do you watch Barca B games online?

And this has got me thinking. If Barca want to do these type of deals with seemingly the vast majority of their youths... how are they even going to have room to hold them in the squad even if they do become good? I mean how many players that I know of already just last year alone have done these type of deals... Rochina at Blackburn, Romeu at Chelski, and Bojan at Roma. That's just 3 players in 1 year, that I know of. If they up that number, and season by season... they wouldn't even have a spot for them on the bench, especially considering the amount of under age 30 stars they have at that club... And that's assuming they don't buy any players.

Nahh, try ESPN comments section after El Clasico, lol. You get Barca fanboys mentioning how they create all their talent, and they basically named half their current academy. and Madrid is ruining football, but then you get Madrid fanboys saying Barca's diving is ruining football. Pretty funny.

IMO what you mentioned is why I think we have a chance: Ceballos is like our best creative prospect and he wasn't even close to their TENTH best academy player. It's insane. Bartra I think has the most potential, and the most chance for signing. It's not like we need anymore RBs and I'd like to at least give Rose a chance before signing this Planas guy. But Bartra is getting to the age where he needs playing time or a move and I think we could swoop. If not, Defoleu, Rafinha, JDS (GDS lil bro) Sergi Roberto, and many many more.

They're cheap, tons of potential, and they play the quick passing style we have cultivated here at Spurs. I don't want to become Barcelona poachers but I'd trade disdain from them for those players.

[MagnaThor]

Nahh, try ESPN comments section after El Clasico, lol. You get Barca fanboys mentioning how they create all their talent, and they basically named half their current academy. and Madrid is ruining football, but then you get Madrid fanboys saying Barca's diving is ruining football. Pretty funny.

IMO what you mentioned is why I think we have a chance: Ceballos is like our best creative prospect and he wasn't even close to their TENTH best academy player. It's insane. Bartra I think has the most potential, and the most chance for signing. It's not like we need anymore RBs and I'd like to at least give Rose a chance before signing this Planas guy. But Bartra is getting to the age where he needs playing time or a move and I think we could swoop. If not, Defoleu, Rafinha, JDS (GDS lil bro) Sergi Roberto, and many many more.

They're cheap, tons of potential, and they play the quick passing style we have cultivated here at Spurs. I don't want to become Barcelona poachers but I'd trade disdain from them for those players.

Good points. I haven't seen much of Ceballos, but Carroll has really impressed me with his playmaking skills.

Edit: Forgot on the rest. So if we do these type of Barca contracts, how would that benefit us if we can't keep the player for more than a couple years, which by then they wouldn't even be half-close to their peak? To use them in Carling Cup matches?