View: Tottenham must prioritise Edmond Tapsoba over Micky van de Ven and Alessandro Buongiorno
Tottenham and Daniel Levy are very active in the transfer market at the moment.
It seems as if Ange Postecoglou might get a full pre-season with his primary transfer targets. Spurs fans have become all too accustomed to Levy’s ways in the market with the chairman often preferring to leave deals late.
However, that does not appear to be the case this summer, with the club making quick moves left, right and centre.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano tweeted on Wednesday 28 June that an agreement had been reached between Spurs and Leicester over the transfer of James Maddison – arguably one of Spurs’ most exciting signings in years if all goes through.
And just a matter of hours later, Romano once again provided a Tottenham update via Twitter (28 June), with the exclusive news that the club were set to submit a verbal proposal for Wolfsburg centre-back Micky van de Ven.
The tweet also mentioned Edmond Tapsoba, but suggests that he is deemed too expensive, and now the Daily Mail are reporting (28 June) that Torino captain Alessandro Buongiorno is also a target.
A central defender – or perhaps a few – is an absolute priority for Postecoglou. However, the stats suggest that if Tottenham are to sign just one of these three targets, it absolutely has to be Tapsoba, no matter the cost.
Postecoglou needs a defender who is comfortable on the ball, a good passer, and can press high up the pitch and step into midfield to squeeze the opposition – when it comes to these requirements, Tapsoba is far superior to Van de Ven and Buongiorno.
As per stats provided by FBREF, Tapsoba ranks in the top 10 per cent of central defenders across Europe’s top-five leagues over the past calendar year when it comes to passes attempted (71.08 per 90). In comparison, Van de Ven is in the 50th percentile (53.27 per 90), while Buongiorno is slightly lower, in the 47th percentile (52.03 per 90).
The Bayer Leverkusen central defender also made far more touches per match (80.79 per 90), demonstrating his comfort on the ball, ranking in the top nine per cent of his positional peers across Europe. In contrast, the Serie A defender made 64.10 per 90, while van de Ven made just 61.91.
When it comes to pressing high up the pitch, Tapsoba was also far superior, shown by the number of touches he made in the middle third compared to the two other Tottenham targets. He made 42.39 touches per 90 in the middle third, placing him in the top nine per cent, while Buongiorno made 32.28 and van de Ven 28.33.
Tapsoba’s ability to press high was also shown in the 1.01 tackles he made per 90 in the attacking third. In comparison, van de Ven made just 0.03 while Buongiorno averaged less than 0.01, coming up as 0.00 per 90.
The stats clearly tell the story and show that Tapsoba is far more suited to playing Postecoglou’s system than Van de Ven or Buongiorno. Whether or not he is more expensive, Levy and the board should be prioritising his signing.
In other Tottenham news, the stats have revealed another central defender from Serie A that the club should avoid.