Spurs targeting “monster” Udogie upgrade in January

It would be fair to say that this season has been quite disappointing for Tottenham Hotspur so far.

Ange Postecoglou’s side kicked off their campaign hoping to improve on their fifth-place finish in the Premier League last year, but as things stand, they are down in 11th.

The North Londoners have made it to the League Cup semi-finals and are still in with a chance of winning the Europa League, but for that to happen, they’ll need to seriously improve their performances.

Now, the club have been hit by an injury crisis in defence, but even so, the likes of Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie have looked significantly worse than they did this time last year, so reports linking the club with a potential upgrade in the latter should excite the fans.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Tottenham are one of several sides keen on signing Club Brugge’s exciting full-back Maxim De Cuyper.

The report has revealed that, in addition to the Lilywhites, London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal are also interested in the Belgian defender.

Unfortunately, the story also claims that the Gunners are currently leading the race, but given their abundance of full-backs, there is no reason Spurs couldn’t get ahead of them by offering more game time.

The report does not reveal how much the 24-year-old could cost the interested parties, but given his valuation of €12m – £10m – on transfermarkt, we’d be surprised if it was a prohibitively expensive price tag.

There is undoubtedly an element of risk in signing a player from outside the top five leagues, but based on his ability and potential, De Cuyper is a gamble worth taking, especially as he could be an ideal Udogie upgrade.

How De Cuyper compares to Udogie

So, one of De Cuyper’s best attributes is that he’s versatile enough to play on either side of a defence and can even play further up the pitch in wide midfield or even on the wing.

However, his most played position, and by quite some way, is left-back, meaning a move to Spurs next year would see him go up against Udogie for a starting berth, but how do they compare?

Well, from an output perspective, which is increasingly important in the modern game, the Club Brugge ace comes out ahead.

For example, in his 24 appearances this season, the “monster” full-back, as dubbed by video scout Elijah Michiels, has scored one goal and provided four assists, equating to a reasonably impressive average of a goal involvement every 4.8 games.

In comparison, the Lilywhites’ Italian ace has provided just a solitary assist in his 21 appearances this season, which is undeniably poor.

What about their underlying numbers, then? Is the comparison just as one-sided when we take a look under the hood?

Indeed, it is, as the “exceptional” Belgian, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, emerges victorious in the majority of relevant metrics, such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots and shots on target, key passes, passes and crosses into the penalty area, shots blocked and more, all per 90.

Now, while the extent to which the Brugge star outperforms Udogie is massive, we must take into account the fact that he is playing in a weaker league.

However, even with that in mind, his underlying numbers are simply sensational, and the idea of him playing in Postecoglou’s incredibly attacking system should excite the Lilywhites faithful.

Therefore, while there is some risk to this potential deal, Tottenham should do all they can to sign De Cuyper in 2025 before someone else beats them to him.