We can all continue to suffer from the same repeated rumors about players connected to Tottenham Hotspur or actually go out and find them, as we know Steve Hutchin will not. It should be unsurprising to us all that we have already seen rumors come out on Wilfried Zaha and it is only a matter of time before we are connected again with Danny Ings.
Tottenham is unlikely to buy established players
There are some reasons to consider players like Ings and Zaha but long term they do not fit the Tottenham transfer plan we have seen in the last decade. Considering both players are 28 years old – meaning they likely have little resale value – and both miss at least six games every season, thinking Ings and Zaha are the answer is foolhardy.
Tottenham should be in rebuild mode with or without Kane
As a team that should be rebuilding, they need to get more talent and they definitely need to get younger. If you look at what made Spurs successful under Pochettino it was a mix of veterans and young, hungry talent. Where would Manchester City be without Ruben Dias? Likely still really good but definitely not as good.
The point is Tottenham should be targeting talent in their early twenties, not late twenties. They should be targeting players that have room to grow and have something to prove. Here are three much younger options Tottenham should consider before chasing Ings or Zaha.
Jonathan David – Lille still has more
I find myself a little more taken by Lille and how they have built a club full of talent that could make others envious. Lille is coming off of winning Ligue 1 over imperial power PSG. Part of the reason for Les Dogues’ success was the production of forward Jonathan David.
David just joined LOSC from Gent in August of 2020 for about £21 million ($29.7 million) and grew throughout the season for Lille. The Canadian forward had 13 goals and 5 assists in 48 appearances for Lille in all competitions. Crucially, he scored in four of Lille’s last eight Ligue 1 matches as the team went unbeaten and held off PSG.
At only 21-years-old but already with over 131 senior appearances between Gent and Lille, David has been playing senior football for some time. He also has 50 goals and 20 assists in that time. With the ability to play as either the center forward or as a second striker David would be an excellent complement to Harry Kane.
With both Burak Yilmaz and Yusuf Yazici in the team, David switched between center-forward replacing Yilmaz and second striker replacing Yazici. This positional flexibility is a nice benefit as well.
However, likely David’s best attribute is his efficiency shooting the ball. David had only 55 shots on the season and managed to get 33 of them on target, and an incredible 60% shot on target percent. When a player averages 1.25 shots on target per 90 minutes on just 2.10 shots that player is doing something right.
David is young and may need some seasoning in the Premier League but he would bring the kind of sizzle and speed to the team maybe not seen since Aaron Lennon. Not bad for a player valued at about £23.3 million ($33 million) and only 21.
M’Bala Nzola – An alternative African attacker
M’Bala Nzola is a bit older than Jonathan David as he will be 25 this summer. However, the Angolan attacker brings many of the same traits Spurs might get from Wilfried Zaha. Nzola has bounced around Italy for the last couple of seasons. In a story similar to that of Tanguy Ndombele, M’Bala Nzola was in Serie C with Trapani as recently as 2019.
Nzola’s third loan was to Serie A’s new boys Spezia Calcio. His time with Spezia Calcio has been a real breakthrough for Nzola. Despite battling an ankle injury that kept him out for a month, he featured 25 times in Serie A, scoring 11 goals and adding 3 assists.
Nzola was reportedly on the radar of Newcastle last summer and after his success in under 2,000 minutes, he is likely to draw some Premier League attention this summer. A less expensive alternative valued at about £4.4 million ($3.1 million), the Angolan may be worth looking into.
Dušan Vlahović – The Serbian Harry Kane
Dušan Vlahović was playing professionally in Serbia at the tender age of 15, signing with Partizan Belgrade. Vlahović was starting at 16 and scored within months of joining the clubs as the youngest ever goalscorer for Partizan. At just 18, he was moving from Partizan to Fiorentina back in 2018.
It did not take Vlahović long and during his debut became the first player born in the 21st century to play in Serie A. Vlahović only played about 150 minutes in 10 appearances that first season at Fiorentina but the talent was obvious. In 2019/20 Vlahović began to break out.
The big Serbian’s minutes skyrocketed as he went from 150 minutes to just under 1900 minutes, scoring 9 goals and adding 2 assists in 35 appearances. Dušan spent time primarily at center-forward, but also played the second striker and attacking midfielder.
2020/21 was a different season altogether for Dušan Vlahović as he played his way into being the number one choice at center-forward for Fiorentina. Scoring an outstanding 21 goals and adding 2 assists – all in Serie A. A towering 6’2″ or 1.9 meters, Dušan Vlahović is as close as Tottenham is going to get for finding a like-for-like striker for Kane at just 21. Currently valued at about £19.4 million ($27.5 million) the Serbian is only going to get more expensive as the seasons’ pass.