Oliver Skipp - confirmed official

[Jimbo]

7 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

I think we’ve got to just forget the KDH money for a second. This isn’t a replacement in any way, this is an addition to what is a worrying midfield! Skipp is viewed as a CDM, which is true, but my mate said he’s pretty quick, over the ground. He’s undoubtedly been purchased to ass much needed energy to the CM, it simply isn’t good enough otherwise, we can’t play a midfield three with the profiles we currently have, but I think Skipp can play that position. He is actually pretty nippy, I think he’s capable of those Kante like bursts from midfield to help progress through the middle of the park. 
 

We’re clearly still looking to prioritise a mother AM and a number 9, imagine if we lost one of Winks and Ndidi……. I can’t imagine what we would do? 
 

I think long term this is a good signing, nothing sexy about him, he’s an industrial player. Imagine the Mr. Reliable we need. 

It's not he KDH money I'm talking about, it's the midfielder profile I'm referring too. KDH is as close to the classic box to box type player there is. 

 

Energy is one thing, but from what I've seen in pre season, drive from the middle is something we've lacked. 

[Stadt]

16 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

Sub 30 points? Are you suggesting you think it’s possible we get deducted 30 points????

No? Less than 30 obviously, not minus 30   

[Micky]

Oliver Skipp to Leicester City transfer - verdicts from Jose Mourinho, Ange Postecoglou and Antonio Conte

Story by Peter Smith - Leicestershire Live

The former England youth midfielder has come through the ranks at Spurs and we have gone back through the archives to look at what has been said about the player by the coaches who have shaped his career to date.

At the age of 23, he is hungry for the next chapter, a new place to call home and play regularly, so this is an insight into the man who Steve Cooper hopes to make his seventh signing of the summer.

Ange Postecoglou: ‘He maintains an intensity with and without the ball’

Skipp went pretty much straight into the Premier League season after the European under-21s Championships last summer, when he was trying to catch the eye of new Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.

“Obviously he didn’t have much of a break but since he’s been in he’s got bags of energy and he uses that really well,” Postecoglou was saying this time last year. “He maintains an intensity with and without the ball that makes him hard to contend with.”

The midfielder went on to fill in at left-back at times and he was seen as a decent option there in a side that encouraged its full-backs to come inside.

Postecoglou said in May: "We have been working with Skippy the last few weeks. When we lost Destiny and Ben, we were left with Emerson who is not really a left-back. We were looking around at options and in training we have been using him in that space.

“The way we play with full-backs, certainly with some of the positioning, he wouldn’t be too unfamiliar with the positions he would need to take up.”


Lee Carsley, then England under-21s manager: 'He has outstanding ability'

Carsley has overseen Skipp's progress with England at youth level, winning the European Championships last summer.

He said: "I've known Oli for a while. He's very underrated. He's one of those players that when they are not in the team you notice them. He goes about his business really well. Works on his game. I think he's still got a lot of development to do.

"He's going to get better, he's going to get stronger. Physically he'll improve the older he gets. He has outstanding ability."

Antonio Conte: ‘The future of Tottenham’

Antonio Conte heaped praise on Skipp after a Champions League tie at AC Milan back in early 2023, calling him and Pape Sarr the ‘present and the future of Tottenham’. Conte would leave the following month however.

“I’m really happy about the performance from Skippy and Pape Sarr,” he said back then. “Honestly to play in this way in the Champions League and to play in the San Siro in this atmosphere, I think that normally it’s tough for important players.

“They played a really good game and I’m really happy. This type of performance makes me more relaxed for the future because we have to consider that we could finish the season with only three midfielders, Pape Sarr, Skippy and Pierre Hojbjerg.

“To have this type of performance makes me more relaxed because I know that I can count on these two players 100 per cent and I’m really happy for them. They will be the future for Tottenham but at the same time they will be the present. I have to consider them important players.”

Daniel Farke: ‘A top player and a top character’

Daniel Farke signed Skipp on loan for Norwich back in 2020/21 when they went on to win promotion to the Premier League as Championship champions.

“I am always careful to praise young lads too much, I like to keep the pressure high on them because in these times they are celebrated so much by social media, agents and things like this,” said Farke at the end of that season.

“It’s difficult also for young players to handle that praise so I am quite careful in praising them too much but actions are more important than any words and when you look at Oliver’s season you can realise that he has played more or less every second in the league for us, for a side that has lots of competition in the squad.

“This says a lot about how much I rate him and how much I value him, I don’t want to praise him too much in public, it’s more like each and every day I keep on criticising him. I ask for more goals, for more assists, better passing choices, for many topics to improve – but my actions speak louder than my words. He plays each and every second for more or less each and every game for such a good side. He’s a top player and also a top character.”

Jose Mourinho: ‘He can be more than a player, he can be a future captain’

Jose Mourinho handed Skipp a long-term deal at Spurs back in 2020 before reluctantly sanctioning that loan to Norwich for Skipp’s development.

“He's one of these players by human quality, by personality, he is one of these kids that I have no doubt will be an important player for Tottenham,” he said at the time.

“I never told him I want him to go on loan, I always told him I wanted him to stay here, because that's the selfish perspective of a coach who wants the best possible squad. In his mind he wants to go on loan, six months, the whole season. He feels that he needs that, I also feel that would be good for his evolution, so maybe that is the direction we go.

“I think he can be more than a player, he can be a future captain here. Hugo (Lloris), Harry (Kane). I see this kid being one day a future captain here by his character, by his personality. I feel really happy that he signed.”

Former Spurs youth coach Saul Isaksson-Hurst: ‘Very good on the ball and likes to play’

Skipp always stood out as he came through the ranks, says former academy coach Saul Isaksson-Hurst.

“Skipp was always one of the strongest in the group. He had great technical skills, was very intelligent and has a really high football IQ, and a generally high IQ as well. He’s a very clever young man," he told Football Insider earlier this year.

“He definitely stood out and worked really hard. Physically, he was good as well in terms of his size – not necessarily the quickest at the time, but he was always one of the strongest.

“He’s very good on the ball and likes to play, so I think all modern-day managers who want to keep the ball need players who can play under pressure and play forward. Skippy is really good at that.”

Mauriccio Pochettino: ‘The difference between a top player and a normal player’

Mauriccio Pochettino gave Skipp his Spurs senior debut back in 2018 when the player was just 18.

He said back then: "I think he played like a 30-year-old man -- so relaxed, trying to play forward and trying to give the team what the team needs, with plenty of energy, full energy.

"I'm so proud of him. He's only 18 years old and it was fantastic. Now I think it's going to be easy for him because always in your debut you're nervous.

"I said to him, 'You look so relaxed. When I was 17, going to play, I was so nervous.' I said, 'That's the difference between a player [who's] going to be a top player and a player who was going to be normal player, like me.'

[Pliskin]

4 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

It's not he KDH money I'm talking about, it's the midfielder profile I'm referring too. KDH is as close to the classic box to box type player there is. 

 

Energy is one thing, but from what I've seen in pre season, drive from the middle is something we've lacked. 

I do think that’s something Skipp, the reason I think things he’s fairly quick and appeared relatively strong on the ball. He just probably hasn’t been asked to play this way. He doesn’t have the assists or goals however, but I think he will give us a bit of drive from the middle, and with the likes of Mavs, Abdul and Facundo we will have the finesse to complement this. (I hope) I think it will turn out to be a fairly clever signing long term. 

[Clever Fox]

15 hours ago, Sunbury Fox said:

Assume his "thinking" is to have a double pivot of Winks and Skipp, with Ndidi in the 10.

Yes possibly, Though I don't think NDiddi is good enough to play the 10 role. Winks on the other hand could with the other two behind him.

 

We should get some idea tonight of how Cooper's is planning to build the team.

[StanSP]

1 hour ago, Wymsey said:

Could he possibly play later?

Yes. 

 

But not for us

 

[TeaMen Tom]

In one of those Amazon docs when Mourinho was at Spurs, I remember him praising Winks the same way.

[FrankieADZ]

done

[NYC Fox Fan]

App confirms the signing.

[ScotFox1]

Signing is confirmed by LCFC!

[les-tah]

Welcome Skippy

[phoneticerror]

Interested in opinions here. 

Would you rather have Winks and Skipp…. Or Madders?

[FoxinNotts]

Skipp to the Leicester City Forum page

[Chrysalis]

So Winks doing Rudkins job now then.

[DJ Barry Hammond]

****! 
 

We actually transferred the cash. Imagine being the one to hit send for this one!

[Guest TaggertvsWise]

Solid signing. Happy with this.

[Burmesefox]

fee undisclosed but absolutely no way we paid £20m.

 

[Royston.]

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Is that not the same for any signing ever made??

Yes but we're specifically talking about Skipp here.

Fair enough you have a different opinion. That's fine but don't make points that have nothing to do with our little disagreement.

[Levi Port]

5 year deal on decent wages, 4 million a year on the books. 
 

Money isn’t the issue, ffp is and this ticks that box. It’s a good deal and singing. 

[em9999]

1 minute ago, Levi Port said:

5 year deal on decent wages, 4 million a year on the books. 
 

Money isn’t the issue, ffp is and this ticks that box. It’s a good deal and singing. 

Your so happy your singing, nice