Tottenham are desperately short of players in their squad, so losing several players from the options of Ange Postecoglou might not seem like the most obvious move. But the January transfer window always brings unexpected possibilities.
Postecoglou will start bringing back some of his long list of injured players next month, namely Micky van de Ven, James Maddison and Manor Solomon, with Rodrigo Bentancur close behind. Once the players return and the new arrivals walk through the Hotspur Way doors in January, others will start to find themselves out of the matchday squad, in lower positions, and it may be that they move elsewhere.
The Spurs head coach will have to make some decisions in the coming weeks, not least because the return and arrival of players will be hampered by the departure of captain Son Heung-min for the Asian Cup and the departure of Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma for the African Cup of Nations with Senegal and Mali respectively, the latter suspended for three more matches.
Here are 10 players who could be candidates to leave Tottenham next month, either permanently or on loan if circumstances allow.
Hugo Lloris:
Lloris, who has been Tottenham’s goalkeeper for more than 11 years, will finally find an offer that suits him. The World Cup winner turned 37 on Boxing Day and has six months left on his lucrative contract at Spurs, which would be difficult for many interested clubs to match.
However, the Frenchman also faces the prospect of not playing a minute of his entire career, as he is not included in the matchday squad under Postecoglou, having announced last summer that he wanted to seek a new challenge, which failed to materialise despite interest from Saudi Arabia, Lazio, Newcastle and his home club Nice.
Spurs did not ask for a fee for Lloris in the summer and will hope he finds a new club next month for his own interest and their wages, as Guglielmo Vicario will be the new main man between the sticks in N17.
Eric Dier
The 29-year-old central defender has only racked up three appearances this season and Postecoglou clearly feels he doesn’t fit his system, as he used right-back Emerson Roy once in the last attack ahead of him despite an injury crisis and suspension.
Dier has had injury problems in recent months, which hasn’t helped, and his contract situation is an embarrassment for the club. Like Lloris, the defender has only six months left on his contract and a permanent move next month would probably eliminate the much larger signing-on fee he would have received as a free agent in the summer.
A move would be more attractive than a loan, especially if he keeps alive the hope of a late place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Euros. It would not be ideal for Spurs, but at least they would save part or all of his salary for the remainder of his contract.
Spurs’ priority in the January transfer window is a new centre-back and perhaps the club could offer Dier as a temporary replacement for any side that would be unhappy with losing one of their defenders mid-season if an experienced centre-back was willing to transfer.
Alternatively, with Tottenham’s injury problems and Postecoglou not yet ready to trust young Ashley Phillips or Alfie Dorrington, he might decide to keep Dier until the end of his contract just in case there is another injury crisis.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Hojbjerg has contributed to Postecoglou’s Tottenham this season mainly from the bench, having started just three Premier League games under the Australian.
The 28-year-old is now in the final 18 months of his contract and the departure of Sarr and the suspended Bissouma next month makes his departure more difficult, but not impossible if Spurs could bring in another central midfielder in his place.
The Dane will be keen to play regularly and after seeing Oliver Skipp start ahead of him against Everton and come off the bench in the game at Forest, he could only strengthen that resolve to get more football. If they had a tempting offer for him, Tottenham would certainly consider it.
Oliver Skipp
The 23-year-old needs regular first-team playing time, and with Bissouma out, that could happen in the next month or so. Skipp was understandably rusty at the start of the game against Everton, his first Premier League game since the opening game of the season, but then came on in the second half and made an important contribution to the defence.
A loan for a Spurs academy product looks unlikely next month due to the squad absentees and uncertainty over Hojbjerg’s future, but who knows what could happen in the final days of the window should Sarr and Bissouma return early from the African Cup of Nations after the group stages, Bentancur’s recovery is quicker than expected, no move materialises for Hojbjerg and a new central midfielder comes in.
Bryan Gil
As with Skipp, the lack of numbers makes a loan move for Gil to get some regular football under his belt seem hard to imagine at the moment. However, Spurs are keen to sign a striker who can play out wide and in the middle while Solomon is on his way back from a knee injury.
Together with the unexpected early return of Son from the Asian Cup, it would leave a busy area of players in attacking positions, which could open the door for Gil to make the transfer he probably needs on a personal level.
Ivan Perisic
We have included the Croatian in this list despite his cruciate ligament injury, as he was previously linked with a move to Hajduk Split in the January transfer window.
Spurs have publicly ruled out Perisic until the end of the season, although the player is hoping to return a little earlier to play for Croatia at the Euros next summer.
The experienced wide-man, who will turn 35 in just over a month, impressed Postecoglou and played a role in the first few games before his injury, but with his lucrative contract expiring next summer, Spurs would be open to a deal with the Croatian club if he was also a player.
Ryan Sessegnon
Sessegnon is slowly approaching a return to training with the Spurs after undergoing thigh muscle surgery last summer, which should finally put an end to his nightmare with this specific problem.
“Sess is still a few weeks away, maybe more. We have to be very careful about when we include him,” Postecoglou told football.london last week.
The Spurs boss is said to want to have a good look at the 23-year-old, who was lost to surgery before he really saw anything from him, before deciding whether Sessegnon could play the role of left back competition for Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies or whether a loan deal is the best option for him to regain his confidence and value.
Alejo Veliz
Perhaps an unlikely move as the 20-year-old settles in as a young Argentine striker, getting used to life in England and adapting to Tottenham.
Veliz has played just 14 minutes under Postecoglou so far, spread across six appearances as a substitute, and with Son leaving for the Asian Cup, the big striker will be needed as a cover for Richarlison.
However, Spurs will recall Dane Scarlett from Ipswich Town. The 19-year-old academy member has already played more minutes for Tottenham, including 45 in the second half of the Carabao Cup game at Fulham, than Veliz. This performance also means that the England Under-21 international cannot play for a third club this season.
If Tottenham bring in a new striker in the January transfer window who can also play in midfield, as Brennan Johnson and Son can do with Richarlison, then with Scarlett returning and Jamie Donley making big strides this season, Postecoglou might feel that Veliz would benefit from four months of regular loan football in England, or even in the similarly fractious Bundesliga, as he adapts. But perhaps he feels that the time is coming for Veliz to get more minutes for Spurs, as he showed last season in the Argentine championship that he can score goals.
Brandon Austin/Alfie Whiteman
Whiteman was spotted back in training, so Spurs goalkeeping coach Rob Burch is currently working with five senior goalkeepers: Vicario, Fraser Forster, Lloris, Whiteman and Austin, who has been the third-choice goalkeeper this season.
With Josh Keeley also impressing for the Spurs U21 team, the club has a lot of options between the two goalkeepers, which should allow Austin or Whiteman to go out on loan if an offer is found next month, as both have already had experience with Scandinavian loans and Austin with an MLS loan.
Austin’s contract currently runs until next summer and Whiteman’s until 2025, so the latter seems the more likely candidate unless Tottenham have the option to extend Austin’s contract.