African Duo Linked with Winter Transfers to Tottenham

Has anyone else noticed that African players have been a bit hit and miss at Spurs? We’re being linked with signing a couple more in January and it gives you pause for thought.

Sure, Mauricio Pochettino brought Kenya’s Victor Wanyama from former club Southampton eventually, but he missed the start of the season with knee problems.

Poch also developed fellow midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, then Daniel Levy shipped the Algeria international off to Bundesliga boys Schalke and got decent money for him by all accounts following a loan spell in Gelsenkirchen.

Forward Clinton N’Jie of Cameroon failed to score for Tottenham and was soon got rid of, returning to France and Ligue 1 with Marseille, per http://ww.skysports.com/football/news/11675/10950472/tottenham-agree-deal-to-sell-clinton-njie-to-marseille.

Ivory Coast right-back Serge Aurier has only made 19 Premier League appearances since joining from PSG, which suggests he hasn’t really challenged Kieran Trippier for that role.

So, when tabloid reports claim we’re hopeful of signing Eric Bailly from Manchester United in January, and a former Villarreal teammate of his in DR Congo frontman Cedric Bakambu, it makes you wonder.

With pressure on Poch to win a trophy this term, yet Spurs being long odds-on at 1/5 not to get silverware again, per https://www.paddypower.com/football, are these the type of players who are actually going to make a difference?

Centre-half Bailly showed plenty of ability at the back in Spain, as did striker Bakambu up the other end of the field. Yet the former has clashed with Jose Mourinho, who may not even last until January in the Old Trafford hotseat; while the latter took a big payday in the Chinese Super League with Beijing Guoan.

Bakambu was prolific in Turkey, then La Liga before doing the business in Asia. Yet for every Sergio Aguero out there, there’s a Cenk Tosun.

Being prolific in Spain or the Turkish Super Lig doesn’t guarantee you’ll get Premier League goals and, a time where over-reliance on Harry Kane continues to be a hot topic among Tottenham fans, you wonder whether the rumoured £35,000,000 transfer fee for Bakambu is worth it.

When everyone is fit, central defence is one of the strongest areas of the squad. With Jan Vertonghen out until December, per https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45827420, with a hamstring problem though, he’s a miss, yet Argentina prospect Juan Foyth is receiving senior call-ups from his country despite a lack of first-team football.

Will Bailly add anything Spurs don’t already have on the defensive front? Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez are first-choice at present and a United cast-off isn’t exactly the most inspiring of prospective signings.

Bakambu played at Villarreal with former Tottenham flop Roberto Soldado, and quickly became the Yellow Submarine’s go-to source of goals. Given how poor ex-Spain striker Soldado was at White Hart Lane though, that’s not saying much.

A credible long-term understudy to Kane and the versatile South Korea forward Son Heung-Min would be welcome in the Spurs squad though. Vincent Janssen is another Eredivisie prospect who hasn’t made the step up to Premier League level, while veteran target man Fernando Llorente will be 34 come man.