Tottenham Hotspur have invested a hefty amount of money since the arrival of boss Ange Postecoglou from Celtic back in June last year.
Owner Daniel Levy has invested around £232m on players over the last eight months, with the signings of players such as Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest and James Maddison from relegated Leicester City.
The spending continued into the January transfer window, with the signing of centre-back Radu Dragusin from Genoa for a fee in the region of £25m – with the Romanian rejecting a move to Bayern Munich for a move to north London.
Despite the big investment in recent times, Spurs could be about to splash more cash in the summer as Postecoglou looks to continue his rebuild of the Tottenham first-team squad.
Spurs eyeing ambitious summer swoop
Earlier this week, reports from Spain suggested that Postecoglou’s side had submitted a sensational bid in the region of £51m for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
The 26-year-old joined the Spanish side for £73m from Ajax in July 2019, with the midfielder establishing himself as one of the best talents in recent years.
Despite Spurs’ recent approach for the Dutchman, it appears it may take a higher fee to tempt Barça into any deal for the midfielder.
Goal reported this week that despite Spurs’ bid for De Jong, it may take an offer of up to £85m before Xavi’s side even negotiate a deal with any club interested in signing one of their prized assets.
However, with De Jong only having two years on his contract, the club may want to sell the former Ajax man before his price decreases. Given Barça’s recent financial struggles, they may be forced to sell some of their key players whether they want to stay in Spain or not.
How De Jong compares to Christian Eriksen
There aren’t many players that have had an impact like Christian Eriksen did during his seven-year stint at Tottenham, with the Danish midfielder scoring 69 times in 305 appearances in north London.
One of his best seasons for the club was during the 2017/18 Premier League campaign, where the former Ajax man achieved double figures for his goals and assists – with his set pieces playing a real part in his success.
Compare that to De Jong’s tally so far this campaign, with the Dutchman scoring once and yet to register a single assist in La Liga. This isn’t a surprise given the Barça man is often utilised as a box-to-box midfielder in comparison to Eriksen, who was more of a number 10 behind Harry Kane.
Given the role of De Jong, he sees a lot more of the ball and is more accurate with his passes than Eriksen was during the 2017/18 campaign. Although Eriksen achieved an exceptional number of assists, he trails the current Barça midfielder when comparing their respective pass completion rates.
The Dane averaged a 77% pass completion rate during his wonderful season. However, Barça’s “incredible” midfielder – as dubbed by his boss Xavi – has averaged 91% blowing the former fan-favourite out of the water – ranking him within the top 3% of midfielders in Europe this year.
With the Dutch international operating slightly deeper, it allows for him to progress the play – a potential perfect fit to play behind Spurs’ magician Maddison. De Jong’s averaged 3.3 progressive carries this campaign, one more per game than Eriksen, with the Barça man once again ranking within the top 3% in Europe’s top five leagues.
That said, in the last few years the Dane has started playing in a deeper role, similar to De Jong, with plenty of similarities on offer last term when Eriksen moved to Manchester United. They both register a similar number of key passes and shot-creating actions from central areas while their preference to stay back is illuminated by their touches in the offensive third of the play.
Frenkie de Jong vs Christian Eriksen: 2022/23 |
||
---|---|---|
Stat (per 90 mins) |
De Jong |
Eriksen |
Goals + Assists |
0.21 |
0.39 |
Pass Success |
91% |
81% |
Key Passes |
1.60 |
1.58 |
Progressive Passes |
9.89 |
7.19 |
Shot-creating Actions |
3.91 |
3.12 |
Goal-creating Actions |
0.39 |
0.39 |
Tackles Won |
0.92 |
0.79 |
Touches (attacking third) |
21.5 |
20.4 |
Stats via FBref. |
With Tottenham looking to go to the next level under the guidance of Postecoglou, De Jong could well prove to be the final player to complete the Greek-Aussie’s midfield transformation.