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Danny Murphy says Tottenham have two ‘middle-tier players’ who Daniel Levy seriously overpaid to sign

Shamanth Jayaram

Sun 2 February 2025 19:15, UK

Tottenham Hotspur haven’t had a great season at all in the Premier League.

Spurs have lost way more games than they have won this season and are currently in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

There’s a very high chance that the 2024/25 season could see Tottenham finish outside the top 10 for the first timeꦓ in 17 years.

Ange Postecoglou will have to accept a lot of the blame, but some of his players are not good enough to win things, claims Danny Murphy.

Danny Murphy gives brutal Richarlison and Brennan Johnson verdict at Tottenham

Tottenham have quite a few top-q꧅ualit🐟y players in their side.

Son Heung-min is a wonderful player despite 🍸his form this season, as are the likes of James Maddison, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Dejan Kulusevski.

Dominic Solanke has also done a great job following his big-money signin♉g from Bournem🧸outh back in the summer transfer window.

However, Spurs need to add many more elite players if they want to h❀ave any chance of competing for the big trophies.

Murphy, who knows Tottenham very well having played for them, feels Spurs tend to pay big money on ‘middle-tier players’ like Brennan Johnson and Richarlison, who ar🍒e never going﷽ to help them win the Premier League.

He wrote in the : “Levy isn’t ambitious is a claim I’ve heard made about him, but hiring Jose Mourinho and🔥 Antonio Conte showed how much he wants to grace Tottenham’s fantastic stadium with trophies.

“I’d argue instead tꦍhat his ambition has been misplaced.

“Instead of p𓆉ushing the☂ boat out for a couple of established stars, he’s paid too much on middle-tier players. Brennan Johnson and Richarlison are two examples — neither were cheap, but neither will turn your team into title contenders.”

Brennan Johnson and Richarlison’s stats compared at Tottenham

Tottenham paid £47.5 million to sign Johnson from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2023, while Daniel Levy agreed to a £60 million deal t𒅌o land Richarlison from Everton a year earlier.

Over £100 million on two attacking players should guarantee success, especially when they were s♑igned to play with a world-class player like S🦹on.

But, Johnson and Ri🐭charlison’s sꦉtats don’t quite justify their price tag.

A combined 35 goals from 144 games by two players is simply not good enough when you consider the fact that ꦡthey cost over £100 milꦓlion.

Murphy may have a point – Tottenham are spending way too much money on players who are not delivering enough on the ♓pitch.

Levy must take a long, hard look🎐 at his side’s recruitment and change things. If he doesn’t, Spurs will continue to struggle.