Spurs in the picture for £84m goal machine

So far, this season has been a challenging one for Tottenham Hotspur and their fans.

Ange Postecoglou’s side are still in three cup competitions and, therefore, stand a real chance of ending their trophy drought, but in the Premier League, they have been abysmal.

Wednesday night’s defeat to Arsenal was the team’s 11th of the season, and following Manchester United’s comeback win on Thursday, the Lilywhites find themselves down in 14th place heading into game week 22.

Now, there have been some positives, such as how Dominic Solanke has settled into life in N17, but based on recent reports, his place in the team could be at risk, as the club have been linked to a superstar number nine who looks to be significantly better than the Englishman.

Tottenham in the picture for goalscoring phenomenon

According to a recent interview with journalist and transfers expert Ben Jacobs on GIVEMESPORT’s Market Madness podcast, Tottenham could be one of several teams who target Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres this month.

On the topic of the incredible Swede, Jacobs said, “I also think Tottenham could enter the conversation for [Viktor] Gyokeres,” which might just be music to the ears of Spurs fans who are crying out for more goals in their team.

Jacobs does not mention how much it might cost the Lilywhites to sign the Sporting ace, but reports from earlier this week reiterated that he has a release clause in his contract worth £84m.

It would likely be a complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Gyokeres’ immense ability, it’s one worth fighting for, even if it could be bad news for Solanke.

How Gyokeres compares to Solanke

The first thing to say is that Solanke has been a brilliant addition to Spurs’ squad this season and has done nothing to warrant being replaced, but in the brutal world of football, clubs must take the chances to upgrade their current players when presented with an opportunity, and Gyokeres would undoubtedly be an upgrade.

For example, in just 30 appearances this season, the “world-class” marksman, as dubbed by BBC Sport producer Noah Mcilroy, has scored a whopping 32 goals and provided six assists to boot, equating to an absurd average of 1.26 goal involvements per game.

In contrast, the former Bournemouth star has found the back of the net on 11 occasions and provided six assists in 29 appearances this season, which comes to an average of 0.58 goal involvements per game.

Unfortunately for the Lilywhites ace, the one-sided nature of this comparison continues when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers.

For example, the former Coventry City poacher comes out on top in practically every metric, including but not limited to actual and expected non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive carries, passing accuracy, key passes, passes into the penalty area, goal and shot-creating actions, successful take-ons and more, all per 90.

On top of having vastly superior underlying numbers, the Stockholm-born ace also has the experience of playing in the biggest competition of all: the Champions League.

He has already scored five goals in just six games in the competition, including a hat trick against Manchester City, so it’s clear that pressure means very little to him.

Ultimately, Solanke is an excellent striker, but Gyokeres is on another level entirely, and if Spurs find themselves with even the slightest of opportunities to sign him this month or in the summer, they must take it.

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