Tottenham sign Fernando Llorente

Tottenham were bound to be the subject of plenty of transfer deadline rumors, but among the more intriguing were recent rumblings about a possible move for Fernando Llorente.

Now those rumblings have become reality as Tottenham announced early Thursday evening that the former Athletic Bilbao, Juventus and Swansea man will make the move to Wembley.

Spurs reportedly poached the signing of Llorente from crosstown rivals Chelsea, who were hoping to add a touch of experience to their young strike force.

Neither club can promise Llorente a starting role, but Vincent Janssen’s spot on the totem pole much lowered after a lackluster first season., the Spaniard stands much higher chance of getting minutes at Tottenham.

If it seems strange that there would be so much competition among last season’s top two Premier League teams for a 32-year-old striker, it really shouldn’t.

Llorente scored 15 goals for Swansea last season, joining former Spurs man Gylfi Sigurddson in essentially saving the Welsh side from relegation.

The arrival of Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham and a return for Wilfried Bony mean Swansea are capable of moving on from the Spanish striker with some degree of confidence. Though a hard fee number is hard to come by, they will presumably be compensated for whatever trouble they experienced.

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Llorente will come into Tottenham as the oldest player at the club besides 33-year-old Michel Vorm. His wealth of experience will be almost as valuable to Spurs’ young squad as his goals.

What’s more, Llorente reached the heights of his ability under a man who also deeply influenced Mauricio Pochettino: Marcelo Bielsa. The Argentinian coahced Pochettino at Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina and, some 20 years later, presided over some of the best seasons of Llorente’s career at Athletico Bilbao.

Bielsa’s insanely high-pressing system found its perfect end point in Llorente, who is both physical and clever enough to carve out a good amount of space in just about any backline in football.

Though ultimately Bielsa’s methods alienate Llorente, forcing a move to Juventus, the Spaniard hardly lost his rhythm. He scored 16 goals in his debut season for the Bianconeri, and helped win the Scudetto to boot.

At 32, it’s difficult to imagine him leading another team to a championship, but he will be invaluable to Pochettino and Spurs in two key ways.

One, he’ll be a nice rotation option for Harry Kane, allowing the England international to perhaps gets some rest against Spurs’ lesser opposition. Expect to see Llorente suit up and play against APOEL in the Champions League, for instance.

Two — and much more importantly — he will provide a much-needed Plan B. Only three other Premier League strikers with 15 or more appearances won more aerial battles than Llorente’s 5.6 per 90 minutes last season. Spurs aren’t going to suddenly become a long-ball team with him on the pitch, but such numbers give new dimension to an offense that can occasionally run out of ideas.

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Llorente might be available for selection by the time the Premier League reconvenes next weekend. Don’t expect to see an early start, but he will undoubtedly get minutes in tricky matches like the unfortunate 1-1 home draw against Burnley last Sunday.