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Will Spurs Sign Fulham’s Moussa Dembélé?

By Alexander Balano

WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 13: Moussa Dembele of Fulham battles for the ball with Jack Price and Dominic Iorfa of Wolves during the FA Cup third round replay match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham at Molineux on January 13, 2015 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 13: Moussa Dembele of Fulham battles for the ball with Jack Price and Dominic Iorfa of Wolves during the FA Cup third round replay match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham at Molineux on January 13, 2015 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /
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Spurs’ chances of signing Moussa Dembélé from Fulham is up in the air at the moment.

For the time being, Sky Sports is reporting that Fulham are “prepared to sell” the French striker to Spurs for around £4-6 million. Which sounds great for Spurs to finally have a legitimate striker as cover. Something that they have needed for half a season during their campaign this term.

Except, for one minor issue. The only thing that’s fishy about this latest rumor is the fact that the Cottagers all of a sudden feel the urge to sell Moussa Dembélé now. What was the hold up when Tottenham were interested a week or two ago? Is it because Fulham realized that the transfer deadline is on February 1st and have an uphill battle in trying to convince Dembélé to agree on a contract extension?

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Ever since it was made public that Moussa Dembélé’s transfer fee was £6 million compared to a £300,000 compensation fee if the Under-20 French international was sold abroad. It made sense that the Cottagers should look to sell immediately, instead of letting the 19-year-old leave for free at the end of this season.

And because Mauricio Pochettino has an affinity to incorporate youth players into his first team, it made sense that Fulham would sanction a deal with the Lilywhites since they were the most interested and likely to complete said deal. Even if Tottenham were hesistant at first — allegedly — to loan the Frenchman back to Fulham to finish the season and keep them above the relegation zone in the Championship.

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Since the success of Dele Alli’s loan back to MK Dons, following his completed move to join Spurs last winter, if push came to shove, then seeing Moussa Dembélé return to the Cottagers on loan made sense. Especially now that Nacer Chadli and Son Heung-min have started to find their form once again.

This season, Dembélé has scored nine goals in the Championship and 11 goals in all competitions while getting regular playing time at Craven Cottage. If he returned to a familiar setting with Fulham, after completing his transfer, it would benefit him greatly.

Not only would a loan back to the Cottagers help Moussa Dembélé continue his growth, but it will make his transition to Spurs’ first team even faster when he gets an entire summer with pre-season games to fully integrate himself into Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.

Again, the success of Dele Alli this season was aided by returning to MK Dons and then getting an entire off-season/pre-season work with Spurs’ coaches to bring him up to speed. There’s no reason why it can’t work for Dembélé either.

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So this means that if both clubs are able to hammer out a deal, it will benefit Fulham and Spurs in both the short and long term.

While the Cottagers will lose a key player, with a transfer embargo sanctioned on them and not being able to sign players, once the ban is lifted Fulham will have an extra £6 million to work with.

And because Fulham can only do loan deals, the success of Dele Alli returning to the Dons on loan last winter can be a blueprint for Tottenham and future youth players that are signed during the January transfer window.

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From now until the transfer deadline, it’s unknown where both clubs stand in negotiations regarding the transfer of Mousa Dembélé. If both teams can’t agree on a deal then it will be a missed opportunity. But more so for Fulham than Spurs as the Cottagers won’t get any transfer fee. And if they do, it’ll be considerably less if he signs abroad. Or worse, if he stays in England but moves elsewhere.

As for Tottenham, they have cover for Harry Kane in the form of Nacer Chadli and Son Heung-min. They just need to get more playing time to make and impact. And playing alongside with Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli should help Spurs continue their push for a league title, but more importantly, stay in the top four come May.