Welcome to Overtime’s Winter Transfer Solutions for the 2022 January transfer window. Our club reporters will use the latest statistics to suggest two key players each club should break the bank for. Josh Hills looks at Tottenham Hotspur below.
Under Antonio Conte’s infamous three-back system with flying wingbacks, he is yet to find a man to dominate the RWB slot like he has had at previous clubs. Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty haven’t put in the most impressive performances thus far and compare nowhere near his previous wingbacks in Victor Moses and Achraf Hakimi. Both players would bomb up the pitch and contribute with goals and assists, Hakimi registered 7 goals and 10 assists under Conte last season, Emerson currently has 1 assist in 14 league games this season.
With a relatively solid back 3 of Cristian Romero, Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez, it has passing range, pace and tackling ability meaning the wingbacks can rely on them to cover whilst they get forward and help the likes of Lucas Moura, Hary Kane and Son Heung-Min. Sergio Reguilón has thrived under the system and has registered 3 assists and a goal despite having a lengthy spell out on the side-line and they need someone on the right flank to match the Spaniards fine form.
So, my suggestion to replace Emerson is Silas Katompa Mvumpa. The Congolese international has experience playing as a wing back under Pellegrino Materazzo’s 5-3-2 system. Despite starting games as a right winger, left wingback and Striker, 15 of his starts last season came on the more defensive side of the right wing.
As he is nursing back from an injury, his involvement this season has been limited but his breakthrough season last year in the Bundesliga saw him earn rookie of the month in November, December and February, and rightly so the rookie of the season. He scored 11 goals, including an 80-yard solo goal, and 6 assists, as well as averaging a 7.31 rating whilst playing at RWB signifying consistency, a key area Tottenham’s current options lack.
He produced 52 attacking chances last season but defensively his output can be questioned. He averages 3.3 tackles per match, but nobody would be able to doubt the 23 year-old’s work rate as he had the most distance covered per 90 minutes in the Stuggart team. And as a 6’2, rapid and skilful player, Conte can improve his defensive decision making and mould him into his Achraf Hakimi for the North London side.
The second area that Spurs need reinforcements is upfront. They’ve needed to sign a backup striker for the last few seasons but Daniel Levy has failed to find a man willing to shadow Harry Kane since Fernando Llorente left in 2019 and I believe the man for the job is 19 year-old Elye Wahi. The young Frenchman is starting to break into Montpellier’s team and has scored 4 goals this season in 8 starts.
He hit the headlines as a 14 year-old as some of the biggest teams in world football were vying for his signature but he chose to stay in his home country instead of signing for the likes of Chelsea or Manchester United and he is beginning to reap the rewards.
Standing at 5’10, he isn’t the tallest of strikers but he is very good aerially, winning 62.3% of his aerial duels and his blistering pace allows multiple avenues to be explored when he is the focal point. He can hold up the play and drop in deep just like Harry Kane, he averages 18.13 carries per game and is one of the players in Ligue 1 being disposed the least, averaging 1.74 times per 90 minutes.
In his last 4 starts he has scored 3 times, including a top corner finish to win the game for Montpellier against Clermont Foot and with each game he is looking more and more confident. Even though Spurs’ track record with signings from France haven’t always been a major success and Fabio Patrici preferring to deal in the Italian market, Wahi is a risk free signing as he needs a change from Montpellier to further his career so should be open to a move and as a club without major financial backing, a fee of around £15-20million should be enough to pry him away from the South of France.
He will provide competition and help the 17 year-old prodigy Dane Scarlett develop as well as be able to learn off of one of the best Strikers in the world in Harry Kane. He would get minutes in the Cup games and off the bench when Kane needs a rest and especially with his injury problems, the chance of a run in the team is likely for the Frenchmen if he were to make the switch to North London and become Kane’s understudy.
