Tottenham Hotspur are looking to sign Adrien Rabiot, according to the BBC football gossip page. If true, this will help to ease their loss of Mousa Dembélé and add to squad depth. However, they still really need to secure back-up for Harry Kane.
Spurs Pursue Rabiot, Still Need Striker
Adrien Rabiot
Rabiot is a good addition to midfield depth, playing in central areas. He is perhaps most comparable to Harry Winks. Like Winks, he hasn’t the greatest physicality. Instead, his lean six-foot-two-inch frame will battle to match up to any bulkier players.
Similarly, he operates as a box to box midfielder, capable of carrying out defensive duties, but equally surging forward with the ball. He keeps his passes short, and has good ball skills, keeping hold of possession.
Tottenham already have similar players, indeed in Winks, but also Moussa Sissoko, Eric Dier to a lesser extent, Victor Wanyama and also the upcoming Oliver Skipp. However, with most of these players picking up injuries and with Dembélé’s departure, this is a wise transfer, adding to squad depth.
The only other criticism of this transfer is that it still doesn’t resemble one of those world class signings to really invigorate the side. It is again a transfer which is nonetheless solid and adds to squad depth but consists of a player that isn’t going to provide a conundrum for Mauricio Pochettino.
Son the Solution?
Heung-Min Son thankfully returns to the squad, after Qatar knocked South Korea out of the Asian Cup. It is a bittersweet moment for Spurs fans, who for all their well-wishing really just want their player to come home as soon as possible. He is a player that is really invested into the heart of the club; he kisses the badge, bringing a radiant smile to the pitch.
Furthermore, he is a key attacking player at the club. With Harry Kane injured he will have to step up in his role. Usually, Son garners some freedom, operating as one of the front attacking players. Kane is central and expected to hold the ball up.
However, Son is likely to have to lead the line by himself. Previously, this hasn’t been too successful. Son is far superior when he is able to make runs into space, and be free of having to provide that central outlet.
One solution would be to field ‘Sonny’ alongside Fernando Llorente. In the dismal EFL semi-final defeat to Chelsea, Llorente paired up with Erik Lamela. This was ultimately an ineffectual partnership, even if Llorente did eventually grab a goal from a cross.
In truth, they just didn’t seem to play that well together in the build-up. Putting Llorente back as the central striker and playing Lamela and Son off of him may work to a better degree.
Invest or Crumble
Nevertheless, the real long term solution is to invest in a quality striker to back-up Harry Kane. This is very unlikely to be solved in the January window. However, it demands that Spurs simply must make a splash in the summer.
There is no excuse and no longer any delay, Levy really must invest in Pochettino’s project. No investment for two seasons indicates stagnation, since, at time of writing, Tottenham still haven’t won anything, have been knocked out of a cup through the semi-final once again, and aren’t likely to challenge for the League title this year.
Thus, why would a football manager stay at this club? And why wouldn’t Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld leave for greener pastures? This is all speculation, such that has been repetitively cited in the past couple of seasons.
However, there is a sense of inevitability growing; a fear that the club may crumble from within. The frustrating fact is that Spurs don’t need to rebuild an entire squad; they need to stump up a big sum for perhaps two or three players at most to improve the squad.
Main Photo
