Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has insisted he is not interested in signing players who are not fully committed to the club, following reports that a deal for Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze was hijacked by North London rivals Arsenal.
Spurs were understood to be confident of securing the England international’s signature on Wednesday after reportedly agreeing to a deal with Palace and personal terms with the player. However, Arsenal intervened with a late bid worth a reported £67.5 million ($91m) to secure the services of the boyhood Gunners fan.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Frank issued a clear message about the type of player he wants at the club.
“To make it clear, I don’t want any players that don’t want to come to the club,” the Spurs boss stated. “If they don’t want to come to the club and wear this fantastic badge then we don’t want them here. And I’m pretty sure the fans would feel the same.”
The collapse of the Eze transfer marks the second high-profile midfield target Spurs have missed out on this summer, after Morgan Gibbs-White signed a new contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier in the window.
Frank also used the press conference to end speculation surrounding the future of striker Richarlison, who was rumoured to be part of a potential swap deal for Eze.
“Right now he is my starting [No.] 9. He scored two top goals,” Frank said of the Brazilian. “Richy wants to stay, I want to keep him and there’s been no talks about anything else.”
With the transfer window set to close on September 1, Frank reassured supporters that the club is still actively trying to improve the squad.
“I said it many times, I’ll say it again the club is working very hard to see if we can strengthen the squad,” he said. “We only want to strengthen the squad with players that we think are good enough… that’s what we’ve done from the beginning and that’s what we are continuing to do.”
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