Tottenham Closing in on Wanyama?

Eric Dier might soon be getting some competition if the rumors surrounding Tottenham’s latest transfer market move are true.

The Mirror reported on Friday that Tottenham have won the race to sign Southampton defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama. Leicester City were thought to be interested as well.

Tottenham have long been linked with a move for the Kenyan international, supposedly inquiring about the player’s availability at the end of last summer’s transfer window.

Southampton were able to resist such moves after their season of surpassing expectations in 2014/15, but the club aren’t expected to be able to do so again this season. Though they managed a sixth place finish in the Premier League — one spot better than the season before — they appear to be entering another transitional phase after losing their second manager in two years when Ronald Koeman left for Everton earlier this month.

The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that Wanyama only has one year left on his contract with Southampton. This summer might then represent the last chance the Saints have to cash in on the player.

While Southampton’s side of the equation is easy to solve, the same is not entirely true for Tottenham.

Mauricio Pochettino clearly has experience with Wanyama from his time at Southampton and would be very aware of the Kenyan’s abilities. The Saints’ desperate to get something for the player seem to have resulted in them slashing their asking price to £11 million, a price well within Tottenham’s means.

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But — as we’ve asked countless times so far this transfer season — how exactly does Wanyama fit at Tottenham? With Eric Dier coming off a truly spectacular season for Tottenham, would Wanyama really warrant getting minutes outside of the Champions League and domestic cups?

More importantly, would the player himself be comfortable with only a part-time role? He would essentially be filling the role filled by Nabil Bentaleb — purportedly on his way out to make room for Wanyama according to 90min — last season, which wasn’t exactly the most glamorous on the squad.

With Champions League football in the mix, there will be a lot more opportunities than last year for Tottenham’s bench to get minutes. Seeing as how Wanyama has been a regular feature for Southampton for three seasons now, he might not be too comfortable with counting up what minutes he’s alotted.

There’s another possibility, of course. Pochettino could elect to play both Wanyama and Dier in the same midfield, much in the same way he played Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin in the same midfield at Southampton.

The beauty of that plan lies in the fact that both Dier and Wanyama are much more than your traditional defensive midfielders. They roam, they surge forward when available. Dier is a metronomic passer, while Wanyama’s height makes him a valuable asset in tracking down balls sent through the air. Together they could make Tottenham’s already-solid defense even stronger.

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Much like the question we posed about Pochettino fielding two strikers, making such a move would mean that someone gets dropped and the tactical formation changes dramatically. Where will Mousa Dembélé — among Tottenham’s best players last term — go if Wanyama takes his spot in central midfield? Does he move up into the attacking trident? If so, who gets dropped to make room?

Any transfer window poses these kinds of questions for any team, but with a Tottenham outfit seemingly on the verge of being a perennial force in the Premier League they seem to loom larger. Improving the squad will have to be delicately balanced with making sure not too much of the already-great squad of the past is disrupted.