Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood has claimed that the club could have qualified for the Champions League this season had not been for the sale of Gareth Bale last summer. The Wales winger was sold to Real Madrid for world record transfer fee of £ 85 million. Spurs then went on to sign seven players as his replacement for more than £ 100 million. It was expected that the incredible depth in the squad will help them reach the top four again. Spurs have finished in this position twice in the last five years.
However, they have been in just one Champions League proper during this period. The club have failed to qualify because they replaced one of the best players with seven who never played in this league, according to manager Sherwood. He is expected to be replaced at the end of the session with the likes of Rafa Benitez or Frank de Boer. However, before leaving, he has taken on parting shot at the club. He says that Spurs were never going to reach the top four with so many new players in the squad.
Sherwood managed to help the club reach the Europa league places after winning the final game of the season. They have qualified for this competition at expense of Manchester United.
“We’re taking out one of the best players in the world and replacing him with seven players who have never played in this competition before. How on earth did people think we would be title challengers or even make the top four? If you don’t know the game you could possibly think that they would all hit the floor running but it doesn’t happen, they need time. It was hyped – the hype was ridiculous,” said the manager, who has the best record of all Tottenham coaches.