View: Tottenham should pick Edmond Tapsoba over Micky van de Ven as stats revealed amid Romano update
Tottenham have perhaps already made their marquee signing of the summer, with James Maddison arriving from relegated Leicester City.
But new manager Ange Postecoglou is by no means done yet, with the manager seemingly keen to strengthen in defence after bolstering his midfield through Maddison.
The boss looks to have narrowed his potential defensive recruitments down to two; with Fabrizio Romano reporting that the club will make a decision between Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven.
“Edmond Tapsoba remains in Tottenham list as talks are still ongoing,” Romano wrote on Twitter. “He’s always been top target as new CB.
“Spurs are now working on both van de Ven & Tapsoba deals; up to the club to decide who they want to sign, also based on financial package.”
Both Bundesliga aces played 33 matches last season, with Tapsoba shining for Bayer Leverkusen and Van de Ven starring for Wolfsburg.
Postecoglou will be keen for his defenders to get the ball down and play next season, and both centre-back targets have shown they are capable of doing just that.
Van de Ven boasted an 87.7% pass completion rate per 90 in the 2022/23 Bundesliga campaign, with Tapsoba’s figure sitting at 85.5%, as per fbref.
But carrying the ball forward could be a characteristic wanted by Postecoglou, and it is the Bayer Leverkusen man who is on top in that area with 47.5 carries per 90, compared to 37.3 from the Wolfsburg ace, as per fbref.
At the end of the day, however, Tottenham need a defender first and foremost, meaning defensive actions should be key.
Tapsoba boasted 1.60 tackles per 90, 1.25 blocks, and 1.13 interceptions, compared to Van de Ven’s figures of 1.36, 1.27 and 0.79 respectively.
It is the former who trumps the latter in two out of three of those key categories, while Van de Ven made 0.06 errors, compared to Tapsoba’s 0.03.
Postecoglou should then perhaps be considering the Bayer Leverkusen ace as his priority defensive target this summer.
There is, of course, the possibility of Tottenham bringing both players to North London this summer, although it remains to be seen if sufficient funds are available to sanction both deals.
More importantly, such funds should be used by Postecoglou to strengthen in other areas as Tottenham look to challenge on all fronts next season.
In other Tottenham news, one pundit has backed Maddison to shine under Postecoglou at the North London club.