On Tuesday, the Seville media reported Victor Orta had already taken steps to try and get Archie Gray from Tottenham Hotspur in the winter market
The idea was that Gray would arrive on loan, taking Sevilla’s final loanee spot, and be an option for the Spanish club until the end of the current season.
As we immediately pointed out, it felt quite unlikely indeed. Tottenham clearly rate the 18-year-old very highly, otherwise they wouldn’t have sent so much money to Leeds United for him.
Therefore, even if they were considering a loan, and there’s been little indication of that so far, Sevilla would surely be very far down the list of acceptable destinations and would likely have a thick line crossed through their name.
Sevilla have repeatedly demonstrated that they’re not exactly the best loan destination, and Spurs experienced that first hand with Alejo Véliz in the second half of last season.
The 21-year-old arrived much wanted by Orta, and yet despite the sports director’s messages to Spurs to allow the move, Véliz was only given around half an hour of action.
Wednesday saw the Seville media giving up on the idea, mentioning the above situation as a factor.
Now, Estadio Deportivo, the club’s local sport newspaper, states Tottenham have sent a distinct message via social media.
On Thursday, Spurs posted a picture of Gray with the words ‘Our Archie’, and that’s seen a very strong transfer hint.
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Tottenham predicted XI v AZ as £170k-a-week star keeps his place and Mikey Moore decision made
Tottenham Hotspur will look to make it three Europa League wins in a row when they host AZ on Thursday night.
Spurs got their European campaign under way with a 3-0 thrashing of Qarabag FK on 26 September before running out 2-1 winners at Ferencvaros on 3 October.
Now, Tottenham will hope to take the momentum from their 4-1 hammering of West Ham into their game against the Eredivisie’s fifth-placed side.
TBR Football looks at who Ange Postecoglou could name in the Spurs starting XI for the 8pm kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham team news v AZ
Postecoglou told reporters at his pre-match presser – via football.london – that Son Heung-min will miss out on the AZ game, but he “was never going to be involved anyway”.
Meanwhile, fellow Tottenham forward Richarlison is in contention and is “ready to go,” while Djed Spence – who is not eligible to play – took part in individual training.
There’s a chance Wilson Odobert could feature, but Postecoglou stressed Spurs “have to be a bit more careful” with the summer signing as he has only returned to training this week.
Predicted Tottenham XI
We feel Postecoglou will make wholesale changes for the game, but retain a few big guns too
Vicario is likely to stay put in goal, but the defence could change considerably – we feel Cristian Romero will be the only back line player to remain from the West Ham match.
Postecoglou will likely be eager to give Radu Dragusin some much-needed game time, while Archie Gray could start at right-back and the experienced Ben Davies could slot in on the left.
This means Micky van de Ven, who featured prominently in the pre-match build up and took part in the press conference, would have to make do with a spot on the bench.
Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma could be rested, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall coming in alongside £170,000-a-week (Spotrac) star James Maddison.
As for the front line, this could see an overhaul. With Son not involved, Timo Werner is likely to take his place, with Mikey Moore on the other flank and Richarlison leading the line.
