Tottenham Rejected Bid for Wimmer

Though he only registered nine Premier League starts last season, Tottenham’s Kevin Wimmer is attracting interest from abroad.

Caught Offside spoke with the Austrian international’s management company about a bit submitted by Bundesliga side Wolfsburg. Tottenham are said to have rejected the bid outright.

This news shouldn’t be surprising. Wimmer came into Tottenham as a relative unknown last summer from FC Koln, and spent the bulk of his first few months with the club on the bench but for some cup appearances.

It was clear then that he was meant as a backup, one that might ease the transition after the purge of centre-backs last summer (Vlad Chiriches and Younes Kaboul both left for Napoli and Sunderland respectively) and the inevitable loan/sale of Federico Fazio.

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He was young — just 22 years old when he arrived — and only had one full season of top flight experience. Nevertheless, the powers that be in Tottenham’s recruitment arm saw fit to bring him in. There was something they saw in Wimmer that apparently few, if any, other clubs saw.

What it was they saw wasn’t clear until the end of January. Jan Vertonghen’s injury toward the end of Tottenham’s eventual 3-1 win over Crystal Palace meant Wimmer earned his first minutes in the Premier League. With the Belgian eventually ruled out for two more months, Tottenham would unexpectedly be forced to rely on Wimmer.

Mauricio Pochettino made no move to indicate he had anything but the utmost faith in Wimmer’s abilities however. There were no panic buys for centre-back cover in the last week of the January transfer window, and Wimmer was given a mandate to prove himself.

And prove himself he did. In a run of difficult games that included a trip to Manchester City, a visit from Arsenal and Europa League knockout rounds against both Fiorentina and Borussia Dortmund, Wimmer exceeded expectations.

He played the ball in a way not dissimilar to Vertonghen, and consequently Tottenham’s buildup game wasn’t hurt by losing the latter. If anything, it was improved, with Wimmer recording 90% accuracy on an average of 54.1 passes per game (figures from WhoScored).

More importantly, his efforts to cut off routes, block shots and generally contain opposition attacks made it clear what an asset Tottenham bought for themselves. Barring some difficult matches against Dortmund, this was a player who could conceivably one day replace Vertonghen. He paired well with Toby Alderweireld, fit right into the rhythm of Pochettino’s system and didn’t slouch at all at the prospect of playing in the physicality of the Premier League.

It’s no wonder, then, that Wolfsburg would see his performances at Tottenham — however few they might have been — and were interested enough to submit a bid. Wimmer would walk on to all but the best teams in the world and start. That he isn’t yet at Tottenham is a testament to just how great the pairing of Vertonghen and Alderweireld is.

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Wimmer’s evident contentment to stay on with Tottenham despite guaranteed minutes is further proof that something is clicking at the club. Other players at other clubs might raise a stink when bids that might result in regular starts were turned down. That Wimmer stayed quiet so far should be understood as implicit endorsement of Pochettino’s methods. Even the bench players know they will be given the opportunity to fight for their chances and, eventually, earn them.