This time next week, Tottenham Hotspur will be on their way to Stamford Bridge to try and get revenge on Chelsea for their defeat earlier in the season.
Unfortunately, even if Ange Postecoglou and Co are able to pick up three points in West London, it won’t have much of an impact on their domestic campaign, as they currently sit in 14th place in the Premier League, 14 points off the top five.
So, the club’s focus will likely be on their Europa League campaign and preparations for what has to be a massive summer transfer window to ensure next year is more successful.
Fortunately, the club appear to be in pole position to secure the services of an England international who could end up being Postecoglou’s own Martin Odegaard.
Tottenham's transfer targets
In his first two summers in the hot seat, Postecoglou has spent quite a bit of money on building his team.
For example, Micky van de Ven cost £43m, James Maddison was £40m, Brennan Johnson was £47.5m, and Dominic Solanke was a club-record £65m from Bournemouth.
1
Solanke
£65m
2
Johnson
£47.5m
3
Van de Ven
£43m
4
Maddison
£40m
5
Gray
£30m
So, while Daniel Levy and Co are likely to go big again this summer, it’s also not too surprising to see several free agents touted for moves to N17, like Jonathan David from LOSC Lille, Jonathan Tah from Bayer Leverkusen, and now England International Angel Gomes.
According to a recent report by journalist Dean Jones, the North Londoners are the team that have been chasing the Lille star for the longest time and are now “the most likely club” to secure his services in the summer.
In fact, Jones explains that Tottenham were so keen to bring him to the capital earlier this season, that they were willing to pay a fee for him in January.
However, as nothing materialised then, they’ll be able to get him on a free once his £11k-per-week contract expires in the summer.
Levy and Co will likely have to pay a signing-on fee of some kind and offer him a serious pay rise, but it’d all be worth it as not only would he add some real quality to the midfield, but he’s also been compared to Odegaard.
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How Gomes compares to Odegaard
So, Odegaard might not be the most popular of players around N17 – understandably so – and he’s not having the best of campaigns either, but when it comes down to it, he’s an incredibly talented player.
For example, he won his second successive Player of the Year Award at Arsenal last season. The season before, he racked up a tally of 22 goal involvements in 45 games, and to top it all off, he’s a captain at club and national level.
In all, he’s not a bad player to be linked to, but where has this comparison between the Norwegian and Gomes come from?
It primarily stems from FBref, which looks at players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and, in this instance, has concluded that the Gunners ace is the fourth most similar midfielder to the Englishman.
The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, non-penalty expected and actual goals plus assists, passing accuracy, goal-creating actions, clearances, crosses into the penalty area and more, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.37
0.35
Non-Penalty G+As
0.24
0.26
Passing Accuracy
81.0%
82.6%
Crosses into the Penalty Area
0.37
0.26
Goal-Creating Actions
0.37
0.52
Clearances
0.24
0.21
On top of their statistical similarities, both players also occupy a similar role on the pitch, playing as a central midfielder who not only helps out with attacks but also drops deep to help progress the ball out of defence.
Away from comparisons to one of the Premier League’s leading captains, you can also get an idea of why the Lilywhites might want to sign the “sublime” midfielder, as dubbed by Matthew Upson, by looking at his output from last season – he’s dealt with injuries this year.
For example, in 45 appearances for Les Dogues, which saw him play in attacking, central and defensive midfield, the 24-year-old dynamo racked up a haul of two goals and ten assists, which was a level of output that played a big part in getting his side into the Champions League this year.
Ultimately, Spurs need to add more quality to the team this summer if they are to progress next season, and Gomes could do exactly that without costing a penny in transfer fees.
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