It’s all done except for the official announcement. According to multiple sources online (including, yes, Fabrizio Romano), Marcos Senesi has signed his contract, confirming his free agent move from Bournemouth to Tottenham Hotspur. Senesi joins on a four year contract and becomes the second signing of the summer after the free agent signing of Scottish fullback Andrew Robertson last week.
AI photo-slop aside, to my mind Senesi is the signing that makes the most sense for Tottenham Hotspur this summer thus far. Although at 29 he’s a bit far along the age curve, the Argentine Senesi is a very solid all-around central defender. He’s good with the ball at his feet, is good in the air, and is comfortable in possession, all things that will endear himself to Roberto De Zerbi. Senesi is a high volume passer but his passing completion numbers take a hit because he’s more likely to go for a longer, higher-risk pass from deep than a comfortable short pass to the defensive midfielder. Like Micky van de Ven, Senesi also likes to step forward out of the defensive line to make defensive plays further up the field, and he’s fifth among all defenders in major European leagues in possession adjusted defensive action VAEP.
Due to his age he’s unlikely to be a long term signing for Spurs, but the skills he brings to the table are ones that will hopefully help transform Tottenham into a team that fits De Zerbi’s pressing and mid-to-high block tactics a little better than they do now.
His signing likely means the departure of at least one Spurs CB this summer, a shortlist that likely includes Cuti Romero and Radu Dragusin, both of whom are linked with moves away from the club.
Best of all — he’s free. As his Bournemouth contract has now expired, he comes to Spurs for no cost, but likely with a healthy wage bump; considering he was apparently only on £50k/wk at the Cherries, a hefty wage hike will be absolutely something Spurs can handle.
Spurs have a lot of work to do this summer to overhaul the squad, and that’s going to take a lot of money. So it’s nice to see Tottenham going after some of the low hanging fruit early on and before the World Cup basically shuts down the transfer window for top players over the next month. Senesi was not named to Argentina’s World Cup squad, but with the injury and withdrawal of Leonardo Balerdi there’s a chance Senesi, who was ostensibly left out for Nicolas Otamendi, could be called up.
While this isn’t a long-term signing, I’m okay with this one as he’s a clear upgrade to Dragusin and could push Romero (if he stays), Kevin Danso, and Van de Ven for starting minutes, or could feature alongside them in a hypothetical back three. It’s a good signing for right now, and after two consecutive 17th placed finishes, right now is probably what matters.
We await the official confirmation, which will probably come early next week if not first thing on Monday.
