Is Nacer Chadli’s departure going to leave Tottenham light this Autumn?

After Tottenham sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid back in 2013, they then went on to sign the ‘Magnificent Seven’ with the proceeds that they received from that transfer. Unfortunately for Tottenham very few of those players that joined in the Summer of 2013 and we are now just left with two from that not so esteemed bunch with the news that Nacer Chadli has completed a move to West Brom for a fee reported to be £13m. Now once again it shows just how much of a hard bargain that Daniel Levy can drive as that represents a £6m profit on the amount that Tottenham paid for him from Dutch side FC Twente, when you consider that Chadli was not necessarily a first team regular that is in an incredible piece of business.

It may have once again added more money to Tottenham’s coffers but is it going to leave the North London club short of personnel going into the autumn and beyond. A lot will depend on whether or not Mauricio Pochettino can add a new face or two to his squad before the end of the transfer window but with the news that Hueng-Min Son could also be sold before Wednesday’s deadline it does create concern for Tottenham fans especially after not having the most impressive starts to the season. They are unbeaten in their three opening games but have already given up 4 points to Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United and when you couple that with a lack of performances from the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane then you do have to wonder if Spurs are going to get anywhere near the heights of last season’s title race.

For Chadli the move to West Brom will mean first team football on a regular basis something that he struggled with last season and especially this as he hasn’t even made it onto the bench in any of Tottenham’s first three games. It may be honourable that Pochettino keeps looking to youth with Josh Onomah and Harry Winks coming off the bench but you have to ask yourself if Spurs can keep pulling a rabbit out of hat and finding stars in their academy. It may be too early to tell with Winks but with Onomah you would say probably not, perhaps the Honeycomb coloured haired youngster to do with being loaned out such as how Harry Kane and Ryan Mason were to then toughen up and become a better player. As it stands he looks a bit out of his depth, the terrible timing of his run that led to a late offside and killed off any hope of Tottenham getting a late winner on Saturday against Liverpool was apparent proof of that.

Chadli was a decent servant to the club in his three years at White Hart Lane with the 2014-15 campaign being his best in terms of appearances and goals, that season saw him hit double figures with 11 goals in 35 appearances but he could get nowhere near that standard last time around with only 3 in 29. That said he was somewhat of a supersub last season especially in the cups with 3 goals in 4 F.A. Cup matches before they bowed out to cross town rivals Crystal Palace in the 5^th Round thanks to a Martin Kelly strike. With his move to The Hawthorns he will give The Baggies a much needed injection of creativity in what is looking an incredibly stagnant side. Tony Pulis may feel like he has paid a little too much especially with to his old adversary Daniel Levy but such is today’s market and the fact that West Brom fans are clamouring for Pulis to spend some of this new Chinese investment that wasn’t really in a position to walk away from concluding a deal.

For Tottenham though they seemed to be well suited in the defensive half of the squad but it’s the attacking unit that looks a little light on personnel. With Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane and Vincent Janssen as the 6 attacking players you would think that they are going to need at least two more if they are to compete on all fronts and that’s allowing for the fact that Son doesn’t move back to the Bundesliga after just one season in North London. Spurs fans would have looked at the beginning of the transfer window and felt that the club have finally learned their lesson by completing their business early with the signings of both Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen but with Pochettino now in a rush to rid the squad of all it’s fringe players what with DeAndre Yedlin gone and Ryan Mason the next one set to leave then Spurs fans are going to have to get ready for another night with Jim White on Sky Sports News.