The Tottenham Hotspur Rebuild, Part 2

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Welcome to Part 2 of the Tottenham Hotspur rebuild, where we look at potential options for players they could sign this summer. Part 1, on the current state of the squad and the organization as a whole, is here.

Much like Manchester United, we could have picked out a lot of positions to focus on. There’s not a single area of the pitch where Tottenham couldn’t stand to throw some money at improving, besides goalkeeper. It wasn’t easy to narrow down the positions to focus on, but for now we’re omitting: a 10-like substance to rotate with James Maddison, a striker to challenge Dominic Solanke, and fullbacks.

For the purposes of this exercise, I am making two big guesses. One, that Cristian Romero makes his way to Atlético Madrid and a new center back is required. Two, that Spurs negotiate a lower fee for Mathys Tel and he goes into the next season as the backup striker. Obviously, if Romero were to sign an extension and Tel were to leave, those priorities would be flipped.

Fun with potential signings below, but first, we’d really appreciate it if you’d check out our sponsor.

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OK, onto the radars.

Passing midfielder: That can’t be real, right? — Joey Veerman

As we detailed yesterday, Tottenham are in dire need of a midfielder who can pass the damn ball. They’re loaded with guys who have solid athleticism and work rate, and win the ball at a decent clip, but contribute nothing else to the team. Priority No. 1 for this team is adding some ball progression in the center of the park. Joey Veerman certainly does that.

The Eredivisie often produces some absolutely bonkers stats that do not translate well to other leagues. PSV Eindhoven have been a very good attacking team domestically this season — scoring 96 goals in 32 games at the time of publishing — and a lot of their players have inflated stats as a result. But the deep progressions and passing OBV here are just beyond silly.

I’d ask my scouts to watch all of his Champions League games and be hyper-critical of how well the physical and defensive parts of his game stack up against teams from other leagues. The dropoff between competitions here looks incredibly severe. But someone who can put up these passing numbers in Sunday league is going to improve the passing of Tottenham’s midfield.

I’m skeptical, but less so — Orkun Kökçü

Some similar issues exist when trying to estimate how Orkun Kökçü’s game will translate to a more difficult league. He’s a former No. 10 who recently converted to a deeper-lying position, and he farms stats against bad teams in Portugal. But the dropoff in his defensive numbers from Primeira Liga to Champions League isn’t nearly as dramatic.

Kökçü has a lower ceiling than Veerman as a playmaker, but he’s a safer bet.

Some fitness concerns — Pepelu

Pepelu was linked to a January move to Manchester City before they opted to go for Nico González instead. Since then, he’s had some minor injuries that have limited his minutes. But this is a guy who’s providing outstanding passing output and reasonable defensive numbers in a top league. I think it’s pretty clear that he’d improve Spurs immediately.

But no one needs more injury-prone players less than Tottenham Hotspur, so your medical team will need to do their due diligence.

Going to the casino — Adem Zorgane

You may be skeptical that a 25-year-old who’s still at Royal Charleroi is good enough to play for Tottenham Hotspur. I am too. But if I’m working in the recruitment for a team that needs a passing midfielder and I see this, I start grinding some tape and scrutinizing every moment he’s put into some difficulty.

I watched all the highlights I could find this morning and they’re so awesome. But obviously anyone who’s seriously thinking about signing this guy would have to watch ~5 full games against the most difficult opposition he faces, which I have not done, so I can’t tell you if he’s good enough to play for Spurs or not. I sure am interested, though.

Defensive midfielder: Looks like an ideal fit — Lucien Agoumé

With Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur both running down their contracts and looking unworthy of extensions, Spurs will likely have to replace them with someone who’s primary a holder/ball-winner, to go along with their shiny new passer.

Spurs have an option to purchase Johnny Cardoso from Real Betis for about £21m, which I don’t think they should take up. I think he is worse than all of the guys listed below. But obviously, if they do sign him, they will not need any of the below players.

The clearest fit for me is Lucien Agoumé, who’s been a bright spot on a poor Sevilla team.

He’s a big dude who covers a lot of ground, and a good enough passer to not be a black hole in possession. Stick him next to a Veerman or Pepelu and you’re cooking.

Does what it says on the tin — Alan Varela

Probably the least sexy possible DM signing, but one that isn’t going to get you into any trouble. If Spurs liked the best versions of Bissouma and Bentancur, but would just like someone who is younger and maybe 5% better at everything, here’s your guy. I’d be a bit more ambitious, but no one should be upset if Spurs sign Alan Varela.

Give me a real mf ball winner — Soungoutou Magassa

A Premier League move might be a bit too much, too soon for Magassa. He hasn’t been an every game starter for Monaco this year, and his passing ability is still questionable. But you’re not going to find a higher ceiling ball winner anywhere.

I think Spurs are in more of a roll the dice on a super high ceiling, high variance prospect position than a just get a guy who doesn’t suck position. I’d really like this signing.

Wait, hear me out — Eric Garcia

Here’s a bit of an off the wall suggestion. Eric Garcia has had to step into a defensive midfield role a few times this year due to injuries at Barcelona, and he’s actually pretty good at it? Maybe better than he is at center back?

The DM market kind of stinks, so lots of teams will have to settle for conversion projects. Here’s one who’s already kind of proven he can make the switch.

The problem is that they put something in the water at Barcelona that makes guys never want to leave for any reason. Even when the manager tells them they’ll never play, even when the chairman is begging them to piss off, even when the papers are calling them nasty names. So Barca might be happy to get £20m for Garcia, but that doesn’t mean he’s willing to go anywhere.

Playmaking winger: Defending is for nerds — Rayan Cherki

Yes, Spurs probably have too many guys who can or prefer to play in wide areas. Some of them are good players. But Son Heung-Min is aging, while Dejan Kulusevski is slow/seemingly becoming a No. 10 anyway. Brennan Johnson only know charge his phone, eat hot chip, and shoot. Wilson Odobert and Mikey Moore are longer-term projects. Spurs need a wide player who can dribble and assist.

I know it’s too many guys. I know there are going to be squad registration problems. But I also think they’re going to continue to suck if they don’t get a player in this mold.

Shoutout to the homies at Cartilage Free Captain, who have been Cherki fans for several years now. My response has always been that you cannot sign a guy who hates running and thinks defense is a 4-letter word to play for a team that relies so heavily on their press to both create chances and prevent shots.

But Spurs might not still have that identity next year, and also Cherki went and got really good this season.

I still don’t think a team that has high pressing as a core piece of its footballing identity can sign this guy, but he rules.

Maybe we do need some defending — Ansgar Knauff

If Ange is sticking around or Spurs are replacing him with another Ange-like substance, Knauff would make for a much better fit. He’s not quite the passer that Cherki is, but he’s just as effective of a dribbler, a better shooter, and is a good enough defensive player that he occasionally gets used as a wingback.

The problem is that Frankfurt are not going to need the money. They made a killing off Omar Marmoush this January, and they’ll probably make just as much from selling Hugo Ekitike this summer. It might be difficult to convince them to let go of Knauff for a reasonable price.

More shooty boi, please — Igor Paixão

Paixão has been linked to a reunion with Arne Slot at Liverpool, which hasn’t quite materialized. He was excellent for Feyenoord last season, and he’s only improved this year, posting an impressive 15 non-penalty goals.

He’s a bit more of an all-rounder than the other guys here. I think that Tottenham should go for a much more dribbly player, but if you’ve been wondering “what if Brennan Johnson was a little better at the non-shooting stuff,” it’s Paixão.

The more expensive but more sure thing version of this profile that you’re going to see linked a lot this summer is Jarrod Bowen of West Ham. Which wouldn’t be a terrible idea, but would probably require some more sales from Spurs.

Going to the casino — Christopher Bonsu Baah

In the vein of Odobert and Lucas Bergvall, this is the kind of value buy project player Spurs love to go for. I do not know if Baah can develop the other skills besides dribbling, but this dude can dribble his ass off. It’s giving 2023 Yankuba Minteh.

You could also insert Tyler Dribbling here, who we talked about in the Liverpool piece.

Central defender: Best fit, but it’ll cost you — Nathan Collins

If Spurs sell Romero, I think they’re going to spend some money to get a very solid replacement.

This kind of money, though? I can’t imagine Brentford will be itching to sell Nathan Collins at a reasonable fee after he put up numbers like this. A monster in the air who’s very solid carrying the ball forward as well, entering his prime years. The £23m they paid to get him from Wolves looks like a bargain now, and he’d probably cost Spurs at least double that.

But hey, depending on the Romero fee, they might just want to throw down for the best ready made replacement.

One extremely large boi, please — Diego Coppola

Continuing with Ange or a similar style coach will probably rule out the potential signing of Coppola. He does not currently have high level ball-playing skills and would have a tough time playing in Spurs’ current system.

But I couldn’t not highlight this dude in case things are changing. If the profile you’re looking for is “giant dude who wins everything in the air,” this is the premier young center back of that profile.

He’s been linked to Brighton, who I assume will teach him to pass and turn him into a £100m sale in 3 years.

Uhh actually I want a guy who can play the ball — Tomás Araújo

If you’re not spending Collins money and you’d like to replace Cuti with a guy who does Cuti-like things, Araújo looks like the best bet. Benfica aren’t exactly going to take pennies, but we’re talking more in the £30-40m range.

Solid in the air, really good on the ball, just a really nice all-around center back.

Going to the bargain bin — Taylor Harwood-Bellis

With Southampton relegated, Harwood-Bellis’ agent is chirping to the media that he’d like to be sold to a Premier League team this summer. West Ham and Crystal Palace are the teams most heavily linked at the moment, but I’d be really interested to see him in a (theoretically) higher level team. I thought he had an excellent season under the circumstances

Saints paid £20m to sign Harwood-Bellis, and they’re not in a great negotiating position to get significantly more in return if they sell him on.

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