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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
There is quite clearly a model at Tottenham that Mauricio Pochettino follows closely.
Since leaving Southampton and stepping into the Spurs hotseat, the Argentine has primarily signed young players, or brought young players through from the academy into the first-team.
There are few ready-made superstars arriving on Tottenham’s doorstep, if any – only £55m man Tanguy Ndombele arguably fits that tagline and even the classy Frenchman is just 22 years of age.
Pochettino has developed academy prospects such as Kyle Walker-Peters and Oliver Skipp and arguably even Harry Kane, who wasn’t a first-team regular before the 47-year-old was appointed.
Dele Alli has also come on leaps and bounds under the Argentine, Giovani Lo Celso and Son Heung-min Son were both signed at the age of 23, Davinson Sanchez also arrived aged just 21 and teenage talents Ryan Sessegnon and Jack Clarke both completed permanent switches in the summer, with the latter immediately returning on loan to Leeds United.
The bottom line is that Spurs go for exciting talent over tailor-made stars.
In that respect, two reported transfer targets come into the equation with one far more suited to Spurs than the other.
QPR starlet Eberechi Eze – recently called up to the England U21 squad for the first time – is reportedly on Tottenham’s radar and scouts were said to have been sent to watch him in action last year.
Eze has three goals and two assists for the R’s this season under Mark Warburton in eight Championship appearances.
A player full of flair and flamboyance, his abilities are of a similar ilk to another London-based mercurial talent in Wilfried Zaha.
Both players possess great speed and technique on the ball, while both started to blossom in the Championship and honed their skills in the second tier – Eze with QPR, and Zaha with Crystal Palace before their promotion in 2013.
Eze is a real box of tricks but has substance as well as style – his flair-filled performances, which have merited five goals involvements in eight games, three WhoScored MOTM awards and a maiden England Under-21 call-up attest to that.
Zaha is also a man with plenty of skills under his belt, but another player who adds some substance to his play – Zaha scored 10 goals in the Premier League last year.
Like Eze, the Crystal Palace talisman was believed to be of interest to Spurs heading into the summer, but the Eagles value their No.11 highly and slapped a £100m price tag on his head this summer, which was said to have scared off Tottenham.
However, they should forget Zaha as Eze is the player most suited to the Tottenham model.
Zaha, as aforesaid, would cost a fair wedge of cash and is a ready-made superstar who presumably has little room left for improvement .
In Eze’s case, at just 21 and with the ability to play either on the left or right flank, as well as in the centre, he is almost perfect for Pochettino, who has used back fours, back threes, midfield diamonds and more during his time as Spurs boss. That versatility is a major asset.
Going back to the Tottenham model, we saw in Spurs’ failed pursuit of Grealish last summer as well as their interest in Hull City youngster Jarrod Bowen that exciting Championship starlets are most certainly on their radar.
Numerous top-four finishes and a trip to Madrid for the Champions League final last season prove that this model is moving in the right direction.
Given Eze’s obvious talent and his suitability to Spurs, he might just be a perfect alternative to Zaha.