Spurs were beaten to the signing of Eberechi Eze by north London rivals Arsenal this week.
Thomas Frank takes Tottenham to Manchester City on Saturday (Adam Davy/PA)
Thomas Frank takes Tottenham to Manchester City on Saturday (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)
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Thomas Frank has brushed off Tottenham’s failure to sign Eberechi Eze by insisting he only wants players who want to wear the “fantastic badge” of the club.
Spurs were all set to capture Eze after reaching an agreement with Crystal Palace on Wednesday for a £60million plus £7.5m in extras deal until Arsenal hijacked the transfer of the England international, who has previously revealed he was a boyhood fan of the Gunners.
Eze would have filled the creative void at Tottenham left by James Maddison, who is set to miss the rest of the season after he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee earlier this month, whilst Dejan Kulusevski (knee) is a long-term absentee.
“Of course we need to do everything we can to make sure we are as competitive as possible,” Frank acknowledged.
“I think we’ve got six good front players that I think is very competitive, across all the competitions we’re going into, and then Kulusevski, he will come back in this season. I think that’s a big thing.
“It’s probably longer-term with Maddison, unfortunately, but I am also pretty confident that we will sign a player before the end of the winter.
“There has been a lot of links, there will be a lot of links in the future and just to generalise to make it very, very clear, I don’t want any players that don’t want to come to the club…and wear this fantastic badge – we don’t want them here. I think that’s very clear.
“I’m also pretty sure that the fans will feel the same. If they don’t want to put the fantastic shirt over their head, play for the badge, play for the club, really enjoy it, no problem – we don’t them there. I think that’s a key message.”