Tottenham might be ready to move on Vincent Janssen

Vincent Janssen ended his first season at Tottenham uncertain what his future might be with the club. Now, it seems as if the first clues of his fate are emerging.

The Mirror reports that Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach might be interested in relieving Tottenham of Janssen when the summer transfer window opens in July.

Though the report offers no details as to compensation, it’s fair to assume that Spurs would hold out for as close to the £17 million they paid AZ Alkmaar last summer for the Dutch international’s services.

With sparingly few star turns this past season — Janssen only scored two goals from open play in total in all competitions — Spurs might struggle convincing Gladbach to meet their valuation.

Still, at 22-years-old and with one phenomenal season at AZ already under his belt, Janssen still holds some market value.

Not enough value for Spurs to consider holding on to him however, especially with Janssen rather publicly doubting his future in north London.

When the club acquired Janssen, it was clear what was expected of him. He was to understudy Harry Kane and serve as cover if Spurs’ star striker ever went down injured.

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Now, of course, this was Harry Kane, reigning Golden Boot winner and all-around darling of the club and its fans. Janssen could not have ever had any realistic hope of competing for Kane’s starting spot, or even getting meaningful minutes otherwise.

Mauricio Pochettino attempting to assuage whatever doubts Janssen had when he joined the club by attempting to find him a role alongside Kane. That meant dramatically re-working Spurs’ approach and cramming two strikers on the pitch.

The experiment failed to work out as intended, and was scraped entirely before the end of the first month of the 2016/17 season. Far from ensuring Janssen’s position in the team, those early forays on the pitch in a position unfamiliar to him set the tone for the season ahead.

Even when Kane went down injured in late September, Janssen was not confident the starting striker role was his. Pochettino used him, but didn’t trust him enough for big matches — like the 2-0 win over Manchester City — to include him in the starting XI.

Part of Janssen’s trouble was the emergence of Heung-min Son. With the South Korean scoring at will, Pochettino was much more inclined to include the winger in the striker role rather than Janssen.

A bigger part, though, was an inability to fit into Pochettino’s system. His hold up play and interaction with the rest of the attack were fine, even occasionally great, but he couldn’t translate any of that into a meaningful contribution. One season might not be the biggest sample size, but it was enough to make it clear that Janssen might not thrive with Spurs going forward.

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And so it might be in both the club and player’s interest that a move be completed as soon as possible. That way Janssen has time to settle in with a new club, and Spurs can spend the remainder of the summer looking for another backup striker to invest in.