James Maddison can’t for him as Spurs currently lead Race to hand Ange his own Trossard in £65m “superstar”
The transfer window officially opened yesterday, and while it’s still early days, Premier League clubs will be hard at work looking to bring in the best players they can and ship out those deemed surplus to requirements, and Tottenham Hotspur will be no different.The Lilywhites enjoyed a relatively successful first season under Ange Postecoglou, as the Australian managed to steer them to Europa League qualification, although their inability to hold onto a Champions League place was disappointing.So, it’s unsurprising that the latest player touted for a move to N17 could add the attacking impetus the side need and form a brilliant partnership with James Maddison in the process – and he’s been compared to Arsenal’s free-scoring Leandro Trossard as well.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer news
On the latest Sky Sports Transfer Talk Podcast episode, journalist Pete Graves revealed that Tottenham are one of several teams interested in signing Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze this summer.
Alongside the Lilywhites, Graves names Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Manchester City as teams keen on landing the Englishman in the coming weeks.
While the sheer level of interest in the talented international is far from ideal, Daniel Levy and Co are at least aware of how much the Eagles want for the starman, as a report from BBC Sport in April revealed he has a £60m price tag on his head.
It would be a costly and complicated deal to complete, but if Spurs want to progress under Postecoglou next season, then bringing in a player like Eze would be a great way to start, and he could form a brilliant partnership with Maddison.
Why Eze would be a great teammate for Maddison
Now, before getting into why Eze would be a great teammate for Maddison, let’s address the comparisons to Trossard, which stem mainly from FBref.
They look at Europe’s top five leagues and list the ten most similar players for every player in them. For the Palace ace, they have ranked the Belgian as the seventh most similar attacking midfielder and winger.Their similarities are best seen through several underlying metrics, such as their non-penalty expected goal and assist figures, actual goals and assists, progressive passes, shots, attempted passes, tackles, goal-creating actions and even the number of times they are dispossessed, all per 90.However, something else the Englishman shares with the Arsenal man is one of the reasons he could form a great partnership with the former Leicester City ace in N17: his versatility.
Like the Gunners star, the Greenwich-born gem can start in several positions, including either wing, left-midfield, attacking midfield, central midfield, and even centre-forward. His ability to thrive in multiple areas of the pitch could see him become the perfect facilitator for Maddison, sometimes finishing his chances and sometimes providing them himself.
This brings us to the second reason he’d make a great teammate: his output.In just 31 games this season, the 25-year-old “superstar”, as data analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed him, has scored 11 goals and provided six assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.8 games for the Eagles.This impressive return is actually better than what the Spurs man achieved, as he scored four goals and provided nine assists in 30 games, which equates to a goal involvement on average every 2.3 games.
Ultimately, Levy and Co should be doing all they can to sign Eze this summer as his versatility and output could be the difference maker for Tottenham next season, and if he can have a season similar to Trossard, then Champions League qualification might be the bare minimum for Postecoglou’s North Londoners.
