It would be fair to say that this season has not gone even remotely to plan for Tottenham Hotspur.
The Lilywhites have endured a mountain of injuries, an abysmal Premier League campaign, and following their thrashing on Thursday night, they’ve only got the Europa League and FA Cup to save their season.
However, with all that said, there have been reasons to be positive in recent weeks, such as their late but nonetheless impressive business in the transfer market.
Ange Postecoglou now has three more players to choose from than he did before the window opened, with Mathys Tel undoubtedly the most exciting, although the Frenchman is still worth millions less than one of his new teammates.
Tottenham’s January business
In somewhat unusual fashion, Tottenham kicked off their winter transfer business early this year, signing Czech goalkeeper Antonín Kinský from Slavia Prague for £12.5m on January 5th.
The 21-year-old shot-stopper was excellent on his debut, keeping a clean sheet against Liverpool, and while he has been a little shaky of late, there is every chance he could develop into the club’s future number one.
The next transfer wasn’t completed until early this month when Daniel Levy and Co finally addressed the team’s dire need for a centre-back by agreeing to a short-term loan with an obligation to buy at £20.9m for RC Lens star Kevin Danso.
The 24-capped Austrian international has been a key figure for the French side who made it into the Champions League last season by finishing runners-up in Ligue 1 the campaign prior.
Moreover, while the scoreline would perhaps suggest otherwise, his individual performance against Liverpool wasn’t too bad.
Last but certainly not least, Spurs finally secured a loan deal with an option to buy at £45m for the exceptionally gifted Tel, despite him initially turning them down last Friday.
The French teenager wasn’t getting much game time for Bayern Munich this season, but last year, under Thomas Tuchel, he was spectacular, racking up a tally of ten goals and six assists in just 1406 minutes of first-team football, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 87.87 minutes.
There can be no doubt that, in the Sarcelles-born dynamo, Spurs have one of the most exciting talents in world football, but even so, there is already a player in the squad, signed by Antonio Conte, who is currently worth millions more.
The Spurs star worth millions more than Tel
Conte’s tenure in North London might not have been particularly successful or positive, but he was responsible for bringing several talented first-teamers to the club, such as Desiny Udogie, Djed Spence and Pedro Porro.
However, the player we are talking about is none other than Dejan Kulusevski, who joined the Lilywhites on a loan deal under the Italian manager, which was then made permanent under Postecoglou for around £25m.
Just a year and a half later, and according to Football Transfers, the Swedish superstar is now worth up to a whopping €65.5m, which is about £55m, or £10m more than the fee Spurs could pay for Tel come the end of the season.
While that is undoubtedly a lofty valuation, we’d argue that, at least this season, the Stockholm-born dynamo has more than justified it.
For example, in 38 appearances for the Australian manager this season, which has seen him play in central midfield, attacking midfield and off the right of a front three, the “world-class” international, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored nine goals and provided nine assists.
|
Kulusevski’s 24/25 |
|
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
38 |
|
Minutes |
2760′ |
|
Goals |
9 |
|
Assists |
9 |
|
Goal Involvements per Match |
0.47 |
|
Minutes per Goal Involvement |
153.33 |
That means the 24-year-old is currently averaging a goal involvement every 2.11 games, which is seriously impressive for a team languishing where they are in the league table.
Ultimately, Spurs have got themselves a truly sensational prospect in Tel, but if he is to join the club on a permanent deal in the summer, he’ll have to seriously impress to see his valuation reach Kulusevski’s.
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