Tottenham Hotspur supporters will typically be happy with their workforce’s progress this season, fifth-placed within the Premier League with ten matches left to play.
The continuing worldwide break permits golf equipment to pause and recalibrate, and it will doubtless have been welcomed by Ange Postecoglou given the chastening 3-0 defeat away to Fulham final day trip.
Postecoglou stated that qualifying for subsequent season’s Champions League group part will not be the be-all and end-all for his squad, as a substitute prioritising progress and collective improvement.
That is an admirable and prudent method, however a spot in Europe’s elite membership competitors would definitely be a elevate and a mark of progress for supporters and gamers, additionally bettering the possibilities of touchdown the most effective expertise in the summertime switch window.
Spurs’ summer time switch targets
In line with distinguished German outlet BILD – by way of Sport Witness – Tottenham are set to wage switch battle with London rivals Chelsea for the switch of Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah, having already made an method previous to the winter window.
Each Premier League golf equipment ‘knocked’ for the 28-year-old again in December however there was nothing doing, nonetheless, Tah is known to be intrigued by the potential for a transfer to England, ought to a suitor supply Champions League soccer.
Spurs are properly in rivalry to attain simply that, and on condition that Chelsea are at present eleventh within the league desk heading into the enterprise finish, 14 factors behind Tottenham, Daniel Levy can be assured of profitable any race for Tah’s signature.
Tah is out of contract in 2025 and, as such, Leverkusen will welcome low-cost bids for the participant’s signature, with Kicker revealing earlier within the marketing campaign {that a} bid approaching €18m (£15m) would possibly do the trick.
Jonathan Tah’s season in numbers
Tah has been an integral member of a Bayer Leverkusen aspect working absolute wonders beneath the tutelage of Xabi Alonso this season, undefeated in all competitions, prime of the German Bundesliga, into the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal and awaiting West Ham United within the Europa League last-eight.
As per Sofascore, the £46k-per-week titan has began 23 Bundesliga matches this season, retaining 9 clear sheets, scoring 4 targets, finishing 97% of his passes, averaging 5.5 ball recoveries and three.3 clearances per recreation and succeeding with 70% of his aerial battles.
Thought-about to be a monstrous bodily presence and a assured participant with the ball at his toes, the 6 foot 4 star has been described as a “bodily sturdy and really fast” centre-half by former Germany Males’s supervisor Joachim Löw, with this supreme athleticism talking of shades of Micky van de Ven, who additionally made the transfer from Germany to the Premier League final season.
Tah usually performs in a back-three for Die Werkself however is a confirmed participant in a extra conventional defence, highlighting the flexibility that might be tailored for a spot in Postecoglou’s interchangeable, multi-functioning Lilywhites system.
He’d be good for Tottenham, augmenting a defensive group consisting of star defensive axis Van de Ven and Cristian Romero but additionally nurturing £27m January acquisition Radu Dragusin, aged 21.
With a return to continental competitors on the playing cards subsequent time period and a want to wade deep into the home cup competitions, depth is paramount and Tah could be the right match.
Why Jonathan Tah could be good for Spurs
Tah has the very best passing accuracy from open play of any athlete within the German top-flight this time period at 97%, inserting him above even Van de Ven within the Premier League, with the Dutchman finishing 95% of his balls for Postecoglou’s aspect.
As per FBref, Tah ranks among the many prime 10% of centre-backs throughout Europe’s prime 5 leagues over the previous yr for targets scored, the highest 13% for passes tried per 90 and the highest 1% for cross completion, together with his elite technical management and pure knack for goalscoring instruments that might be well-wielded inside Postecoglou’s tactical set-up.
Jonathan Tah: Comparable Premier League Gamers |
||
---|---|---|
# |
Participant |
Membership |
1. |
Virgil van Dijk |
Liverpool |
2. |
Pau Torres |
Aston Villa |
3. |
Ibrahima Konate |
Liverpool |
4. |
Nathan Ake |
Manchester Metropolis |
5. |
Levi Colwill |
Chelsea |
Sourced by way of Soccer Transfers |
Furthermore, Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk is taken into account Tah’s most comparable Premier League participant, as per Soccer Transfers, with such a talent set hardly unlikely to succeed down the N17.
Van Dijk has been close to indomitable at instances this season for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, thriving on the coronary heart of a resurgent, title-chasing aspect and restoring a backline that welcomed no switch additions final summer time regardless of a dismal 2022/23 marketing campaign, additionally contending with accidents to Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip and shot-stopper Alisson Becker this season.
As per Sofascore, the 32-year-old colossus has been breathtaking within the league, finishing 91% of his passes, scoring two targets and supplying two assists, averaging 5.1 ball recoveries and 4.3 clearances per recreation and popping out on prime in a staggering 84% of his aerial battles.
He additionally ranks among the many prime 8% of positional friends throughout Europe’s prime 5 leagues over the previous yr for assists, the highest 4% for shot-creating actions, the highest 4% for passes tried, the highest 10% for cross completion, the highest 17% for progressive passes and the highest 2% for aerial wins per 90.
Fairly merely, Van Dijk is without doubt one of the greatest within the enterprise, and whereas Klopp and Postecoglou implement completely different types of play, each are reliant on innate understanding, development and fluency.
That is evidenced by the turnaround in fortunes on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season since Van de Ven arrived and settled the equilibrium subsequent to Romero.
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Nonetheless, each stars have been sidelined at completely different intervals this time period and this has laid the Lilywhites’ fragility naked. This can’t be allowed to resurface and pull the squad again in regression after such promise all through Postecoglou’s maiden marketing campaign.
As soon as described as a “defensive battleship” by former teammate Christoph Kramer, Tah should be signed, becoming a member of the fold and providing his talent set in what would add one other layer to the constructing Spurs machine.