Tottenham need not show interest in West Brom’s Ahmed Hegazi
By Gary Pearson
According to ESPN, Tottenham have shown interest in West Brom defender Ahmed Hegazi, a player the Lilywhites have no business tracking.
In fairness to Hegazi, he started all 38 Premier League matches for the relegated side in what was, bar the final five weeks, a calamitous season for the Baggies. While he was the staple of West Brom’s rearguard, ESPN’s suggestion that he established himself as “one of the league’s best out-and-out defenders” is an embellishment of outrageous proportions.
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The towering pillar moved to West Brom from Egyptian Premier League side Al Ahly at the beginning of last season. One season of relegation football doesn’t elevate him to the lofty standards expected at Tottenham Football Club.
Spurs are the third best team in England, with their intentions set solely on usurping Manchester City as the Premier League’s apex predator.
Could you ever envision Pep Guardiola trying to convince Hegazi to join his heralded team?
The answer, as I’m sure you already surmised, is an unequivocal no.
Tottenham must concentrate their precious transfer kitty on enticing world class players; no longer should the Lilywhites’ lionized name be associated with players of Hegazi’s questionable pedigree.
With no disrespect to West Brom, Tottenham are in a different stratosphere and shouldn’t waste their time with defenders whose CV reads like Hegazi’s: he played for Ismaily in Egypt’s Premier League, with brief inconsequential stints in Perugia and Fiorentina before returning to his homeland, where he made 40 appearances for Al Ahly.
Tottenham signing Hegazi would be tantamount to Gordon Ramsay hiring a McDonalds cook to take on the lead as head chef at one of his Michelin five-star restaurants.
As to not come across too one-sided, Hegazi was markedly better than his colleagues, and that includes Jonny Evans, whose string of sub-par performances merits a separate piece on to its own. But he and his Baggies teammates, had it not been for their near meteoric resurrection, would have gone down with barely a whimper.
The 27-year-old Egyptian appeared to swing at Liverpool’s Danny Ings in a recent match, so he also deserves credit for that.
Any centre back with aspirations of playing at Tottenham can’t afford to be associated with such an inferior side, particularly in conjunction with his underwhelming CV.
His playing style also resembles Federico Fazio, who was an unmitigated disaster at Tottenham.
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Sure, he played a pivotal role in Roma’s recent Champions League semifinal run, but that slight personal redemption pales in comparison to how utterly disappointing he was at Spurs. Think of an uncoordinated elephant with a rhino’s vision at the heart of defence. And unlike ESPN, that comparison requires no embellishment.
While we wish Hegazi all the best in his future endeavours and hope he finds his feet with another Premier League side, on behalf of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, it’s an emphatic no from us.