He'd send Tel packing: Spurs race to sign £19m "future ballon d'Or winner"
The fans and players might have a Europa League final to look forward to next week, but the powers that be at Tottenham Hotspur will be looking past that and at the upcoming transfer window.
Daniel Levy and Co have to ensure it’s a massive window this year; otherwise, Ange Postecoglou – or whoever replaces him – could just find themselves in the same place this time next season.
Fortunately, there has been an increasing number of reports linking the North Londoners to a host of incredibly exciting players in recent weeks.
However, while the talented attackers touted for moves to N17 should excite the fans, they could also spell trouble for some of the club’s current stars, such as Bayern Munich loanee Mathys Tel.
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Before we get to the player in question, it’s worth examining some of the other exciting attackers linked with Spurs in recent weeks, like Eberechi Eze and Liam Delap.
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The former could reportedly cost the North Londoners a cool £68m, but given his ability to play in a number of positions and the fact he’s racked up 12 goals and 11 assists in 40 games this season, it would be hard to argue with that valuation.
Likewise, while Delap is still young and relatively inexperienced, his £30m release clause seems more than fair for a striker who has scored 12 goals and provided two assists in 35 Premier League games this season.
However, if a player is going to come in and send Tel packing back to Bayern, they’re going to have to be someone seriously special, someone like Rayan Cherki.
Yes, according to a recent report from Caught Offside, Spurs are one of several sides incredibly interested in the Lyon gem.
The report has revealed that the player’s agent has approached a number of ‘top Premier League clubs’ over a potential transfer, and according to reports from earlier this week, the North Londoners have already inquired about the player, who could be available for just £19m.
It could be a complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Cherki’s immense ability, it’s one worth fighting for, even if it could be bad news for Tel.
How Cherki compares to Tel
So, the first thing to say is that Cherki is capable of playing off the right of a front three and in attacking midfield, but with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski locking down the former and Brennan Johnson scoring bags of goals from the latter, we reckon the Frenchman would play off the left at Spurs.
Therefore, his arrival in the summer could see the club thank Tel for his service and send him back to Bayern in the summer, as when we compare the two players, it’s abundantly clear that the Lyon ace is the far more dangerous and effective attacker.
For example, in terms of pure output, the “insane” 21-year-old, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has scored 12 goals and provided 19 assists in 43 games, totalling 3009 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.38 games, or every 97.06 minutes.
In contrast, since moving to North London, the Sarcelles-born gem has scored three goals and provided one assist in 18 appearances, totalling 1083 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 4.5 games, or every 270.75 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Bayern loanee, the incredibly one-sided nature of this comparison only continues when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.69
0.37
Non-Penalty G+As
0.83
0.27
Progressive Passes
9.03
2.52
Progressive Carries
4.47
2.52
Passing Accuracy
78.6%
75.0%
Key Passes
3.23
1.17
Passes into the Final Third
4.38
1.35
Passes into the Penalty Area
3.27
1.62
Live Passes
53.1
29.8
Shot-Creating Actions
6.09
2.54
Goal-Creating Actions
0.88
0.27
Successful Take-Ons
2.03
1.62
For example, in practically every relevant metric, Lyon’s “future ballon d’Or winner,” as dubbed by The Athletic’s Alex Barker, comes out on top.
These metrics include things like expected and actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive passes and carries, passing accuracy, key passes, passes into the final third and penalty area, shot and goal-creating actions, successful take-ons and more, all per 90.
Ultimately, it’s clear that Cherki is a far superior player to Tel, and while it would be handy for Spurs to have both next season, we wouldn’t be surprised that signing the former will force the latter to move on.
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