Tottenham’s transfer travails strike familiar note amid empty noise

If it hadn’t cost him so much money, Antonio Conte could have been forgiven for tearing out his hair. During a typically earnest round-table transfer discussion, Sky Sports presenter Jo Wilson asked her colleague, Michael Bridge, for his thoughts on Tottenham Hotspur’s not entirely unexpected failure to sign Luis Díaz.

On the back of footage filmed some weeks ago of an extremely morose, middle-aged Conte telling reporters: “For sure we need to improve the quality of our squad,” Bridge explained, with the gravitas one might expect from a father explaining to his small child that a beloved hamster has died, why the Italian won’t be improving it by securing the services of the Porto winger.

“Just on this player in particular, Spurs were prepared to match the fee and match everything which Liverpool are going to pay,” Bridge solemnly intoned. “I need to say this because I know that’s the case. On this occasion, I know the player just wants to go to Liverpool.” Going on to explain that this was no ordinary gazumping, that Liverpool’s interest in the player had been long term and they had not decided to out-bid Tottenham just to torment Conte for the hell of it, Bridge handed down his verdict. “Disappointment,” he said. “But Spurs will move on.”

No strangers to transfer window disappointment, Spurs have little choice but to move on, and all associated with the club will hope to speed up the healing process by trying to “move on” several players who were once the subject of high-profile bids the club did successfully manage to get over the proverbial transfer line. Often unable to do right for doing wrong in the market, even when Spurs appear to have gotten one over on Premier League rivals their victories end up feeling