Jose Mourinho and Tottenham Hotspur have finally landed a back-up striker for Harry Kane. The North London giants ended a long search for a striker after signing Brazilian Carlos Vinicius from Benfica. He was the sixth major signing to arrive at the club in what was a busy transfer window for Spurs.
Vinicius was one of the standout performers for Benfica last season. The Brazilian was the joint top-scorer in Primeira Liga after scoring 18 goals from 32 appearances. The striker emerged as a target for Spurs after Benfica surprisingly failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Carlos Vinicius: The Long Overdue Back-Up for Harry Kane
Playing Style
As understood from his background, Carlos Vinicius is a late bloomer. He started football at a very late age of 14 and only played his first professional game at the age of 22. But, that has not deterred him from reaching where he is now.
Standing at 6’3, Carlos Vinicius will be one of the tallest players in the Premier League. At his height, it is normal to assume that he would be more of a target man than anything else. However, the Brazilian is more than that. He is a great goal poacher with a knack of getting in the right place at the right time.
According to Whoscored.com, the Brazilian scored 18 goals last season, with all of them coming from inside the penalty area. That is not all, as he also scored five goals from the bench, the highest in the Primeira Liga last season. He attempted 3.3 shots per 90 in the league and 1.42 of them were on target. A closer look reveals how deadly he has been for the Portuguese giants last season. Of his total shots, 0.29 per 90 min resulted in a goal while an extraordinary 0.68 shots on target resulted in a goal. In fact, he has 0.9 goals per 90 mins – the highest in Portugal last season.
Despite being 6’3, the striker has rarely made much use of height in front of the goal. He contested in 53 aerial duels per and was successful in just 29 of them. His goals tally also show this, with just three of his goals coming from headers.
Vinicius, though, is much more of a link-up player. He provided five assists in Primeira Liga and was joint eight highest in the league despite making just 19 starts. He had the best goals and assists tally per 90 mins in the Primeira Liga with 1.22.
The lack of playing under pressure with a big club could be one of the main things that may go against the big Brazilian. His limited playing experience at any of the top leagues was evident when he first arrived at Benfica. Vinicius struggled early on before finally getting to grips with the situation. Unlike in Portugal, he could also face a tough competition inside the penalty area with his poor aerial ability and much more physical Premier League defenders.
How Will Carlos Vinicius Fit in Tottenham Hotspur?
Tottenham Hotspur have been struggling to find a proper back-up for Harry Kane since Fernando Llorente left the club. It was one of the major reasons for the North London side struggles last season after Harry Kane missed close to 15 matches due to injuries.
With Vinicius now at their disposal, Tottenham have a great striker to rely upon. As mentioned above, Vinicius was the highest goalscorer off the bench in the Primeira Liga last season. He played in the 4-4-2 system with Benfica and was very influential in both scoring and assisting his team-mates. In fact, he had the second-best goals and assists tally in the league last season with 23.
One of the major issues for Harry Kane has been his issues with injuries. The England captain struggles with injuries have often resulted in him missing some important stages of the season. Vinicius, on the other hand, has rarely sat out. The big Brazilian missed just four matches for Benfica last season and has rarely missed many matches through injuries in his career.
Carlos Vinicius could also provide serious selection headaches to Jose Mourinho. The big Brazilian is yet to reach his peak and has already shown great goalscoring talents in his limited matches in the top-flight. He could also give Harry Kane a run for his money and provide competition to the England international’s starting position.
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