Former Spurs and Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has made a bold claim about Tottenham's Mousa Dembele - saying that his former club couldn't have upgraded on the Belgian even if they had wanted to.
Murphy, who turned his hand to punditry after retiring from football in 2013, thinks that Dembele is a cut above the midfielders signed by top four rivals Liverpool and Chelsea, stating that even Jorginho wouldn't get in the team ahead of him.
He told Bwin: "It’s very difficult for Tottenham to improve on what they already have. To improve on the players they have, it would cost a lot of money and they’d also be competing against rival clubs who can afford to pay a lot more.
"Chelsea have just splashed out on Jorginho, but he wouldn’t get in Tottenham’s team ahead of Dembele. Liverpool have spent the money on Fabinho, but I’m not convinced he’s better than Dembele either.
"It’s near impossible to find world-class players who aren’t on the radar of the other big teams but who would be happy to sit on the bench to improve the squad at Tottenham."
Dembele was linked heavily with a move away from White Hart Lane, but all changed when Spurs opted not to bring anyone in in the summer - instead reinstalling their faith in some of last season's fringe players, such as Dembele and Lucas Moura.
Danny Murphy: "Chelsea have just splashed out on Jorginho, but he wouldn’t get in Tottenham’s team ahead of [Mousa] Dembele."
Is this early morning joke?
Dembele better than Jorginho? No chance.— Sarrismo™ (@Blue_Footy) August 25, 2018
In doing so, they made transfer window history, becoming the first Premier League club not to sign a single player in a given summer window.