Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has hit out at Chelsea’s transfer policy and insisted that he would not want the ‘headache’ of spending £1billion on new signings. The Spurs coach has hit the ground running since he was appointed in July and remains unbeaten in the Premier League ahead of their London derby against Mauricio Pochettino’s side on Monday, with Postecoglou stirring the pot by explaining why the Blues’ model of spending does not work.
The Australian is yet to taste defeat in the English top flight after guiding his side to eight wins in 10 matches, including statement wins over Liverpool and Manchester United.
Facing mega-rich Chelsea will be one of his more difficult tests as the 59-year-old spent roughly a third of what Pochettino did in the summer, with the west London club splashing out £420m on 11 new signings. That took them past the £1bn mark since Todd Boehly’s takeover in May 2022, although the figure does not take into account player sales across that same period.
But Postecoglou has begun the mind games ahead of the highly-anticipated clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, taking aim at Chelsea’s model of splashing out on players by insisting clubs cannot sign ’24 world-class players’, as he emphasised the importance of team chemistry.
When asked if he would like to spend £1billion on transfers, Postecoglou replied: “Not necessarily. I’ve always said I’ve never felt it is about just spending money. That’s been proved time and time again. If you get it all right then you’ve got a pretty strong case but there’s always a limit to every team.
“You can’t have 24 world-class players. That will never work. It doesn’t work, its been proven. It’s about having a squad that’s balanced, guys that are committed to a cause, guys that maybe aren’t going to play every game but every time they play they are going to make a huge impact for you because they buy into what you are trying to build.
“Just spending endless money to get the best players has been proven time and time again is not the answer. The answer is to get the right chemistry in your team, in your squad, to have 24 players committed to one cause. I don’t think you can do that If you just get the 24 best players in the world. That’s a headache I definitely don’t want.”
Pochettino might object to Postecoglou’s comments, especially as the 51-year-old has been dogged by injury problems throughout the summer after rebuilding his squad. One of his signings, £58m man Romeo Lavia, is yet to make his debut.
It promises to be an emotional night for the Argentine as he makes his long-awaited return to his former club, where he spent five years between 2014 and 2019. Under Pochettino, Spurs contended for the title and reached the Champions League final in 2018-19 before losing to Liverpool.
And Postecoglou revealed his admiraton for his work at Spurs, suggesting he hopes he can emulate his achievements at the club.
