Tottenham To Buy All The Strikers
By Ryan Wrenn
According to a report on Goal.com today, Tottenham are due to make an audacious move for not one, not two, but all three of the transfer targets we mentioned on the site yesterday. Clinton N’jie, Saido Berahino and Javier Hernandez could make the move to White Hart Lane for the low, low aggregate price of £35 million.
Goal.com doesn’t quote anyone or cite any sources, so their piece essentially acts as a Spurs rumor round-up more than anything else. Though it is fun to imagine Levy synchronizing the signings, sending out a helicopter full of cash and comfy reclining seats on a looping journey to the Midlands, Manchester and Lyon before touching down on one of the pitches at Enfield and dropping the trio of goal-getters immediately into one of Poch’s midweek training sessions.
More from Hotspur HQ
- Storybook ending after difficult period for Tottenahm’s Richarlison
- Tottenham comeback showcased invaluable intangible Ange has cultivated
- Tottenham player ratings in 2-1 comeback win over Sheffield United
- Tottenham projected starting 11 for Sheffield United
- Tottenham’s Richarlison says he’s going to seek psychological help
Barring that unlikely scenario, what truth is there to this rumor? As much truth as you’d expect there to be for any one of these transfer rumors taken individually. Goal.com’s collection of them into one story is a reflection of that fact that Tottenham’s options are currently limited in attack. Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado, for all the bluster about failed moves and whatnot, have been given a detailed map to White Hart Lane’s exit. Aaron Lennon has sadly not even been given a number on the squad sheet. Indeed, his old number 7 remains vacant, waiting to be filled by no doubt by one of the above-mentioned.
Yet there seems to be some inconsistency here. N’jie and Berahino broadly fit into the desired player archetype for Spurs’ Head of Recruitment Paul Mitchell. Youngish, pacey, versatile. They’re thematically consistent with the other big signings since Mitchell’s appointment last autumn, most notably Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld.
Hernandez seems the exception though. He’s 27, not known for his dynamism and pretty much locked into a specific striker role. Plus, he’s generally thought to have lost a step since his early days with Manchester United when he seemed to be developing into a 20-goal-a-season kind of forward.
Live Feed
The Top Flight
Indeed, he failed to impress in a starting role last season on loan at Real Madrid. In 16 starts he accumulated two goals and one assist. Those are Marouane Chamakh numbers, and thus not good enough for a team aspiring for the Premier League’s top four.
So why the rumored £10 million valuation for Chicharito? It probably has a whole lot to do with his numbers off the bench for Real last season. In stark contrast to his woeful starts, Hernandez managed a truly impressive tally of five goals and three assists from a mere seven substitute appearances. Remember when latter-day Jermain Defoe would come on in the 75th minute and almost invariably score a goal? That could be precisely the kind of production Spurs are looking to add to the squad.
Hernandez isn’t Defoe, of course. He doesn’t inject the side with the pace necessary to wear down already tired defenses. Rather, he’s an imposing figure in the box, quick with a mean header and eager to help bring his teammates into the game. Barring injury, he’d likely never start over Kane or the other two gentleman on Levy’s hypothetical chopper, but he could still have a massive impact on Spurs’ season.
BONUS STRIKER RUMOR: The Guardian passes along the rumor that Mitchell, et al might be in the running to sign FC Basel’s wunderkind Breel Embolo. He’s only 18 years old and plays for the U21 squad of a club in a tertiary-at-best European league, but look at these cherry-picked highlights and tell us you’re not a smidge excited at the prospect.
You hear that dreamy Euro-style electronica score? They don’t just use that kind of catchy song for every YouTube highlight reel ever, you know.