Spurs plotting move for “explosive” £42m star

It would be fair to say that things have not exactly gone to plan for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League this season.

As things stand, Ange Postecoglou’s side currently find themselves in 12th place and closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League places.

That said, with a 1-0 lead over Liverpool in their League Cup semi-final and a laboured but ultimately successful 3-0 win over Tamworth in the FA Cup, there is a real chance the Australian could lead the club to a trophy this season.

However, for that to happen, Spurs’ most important players will need to be at their best, including club captain Son Heung-min, whose form has been very hit-and-miss this year, as exemplified by the fact he hasn’t scored or assisted a goal in his last five league games.

Fortunately, the transfer window is now open, and recent reports have linked the club to an incredibly exciting talent who could help revive the South Korean superstar for the second half of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur target Serie A star

According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Tottenham are one of several teams interested in Lecce left-back Patrick Dorgu.

Alongside the Lilywhites, the report has revealed that Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool are also keen on the young talent, while the likes of Manchester City, Juventus, AC Milan, Napoli, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig are all ‘aware’ of him.

On top of dealing with the enormous competition, Daniel Levy and Co will also have to dig deep into their pockets to sign the Danish ace as, according to the story, the Serie A side value him at around €50m, which is about £42m.

In all, it’ll likely be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given Dorgu’s immense ability and potential, it’s one worth pursuing, especially as he could help revive Son.

How Dorgu could revive Son at Spurs

So, to get straight to the point, the way Dorgu could help get the best back out of Son is obviously not through his defensive work at left-back but through his sensational attacking abilities.

For example, in just 21 appearances this season, totalling 1820 minutes, the 20-year-old phenom has already scored three goals and provided one assist for Lecce, which means he is currently averaging a goal involvement every 5.25 games, or every 455 minutes.

Granted, he has spent some of the campaign as a right-winger, but if anything, that only shows how accomplished and comfortable he already is in attacking scenarios.

Away from his pure output, we can further see how effective the “explosive” prospect, as U23 scout Antonio Mango described him, is as an attacking full-back when we look at his underlying numbers compared to other full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League across the last 365 days.

According to FBref, he sits in the top 2% for non-penalty expected goals, the top 3% for actual non-penalty goals, the top 4% for total shots, the top 6% for aerial duels won, the top 7% for carries into the penalty area, the top 8% for non-penalty expected goals plus assists, the top 10% for touches in the opposition’s penalty area and the top 11% for shot-creating actions from successful take-ons, all per 90.

Now, while most of those metrics would help get more out of the Lilywhites’ captain, perhaps the most important are the last two, as his dynamism in getting up and down the flank and into the opposition’s box should take some of the physical demands off of Son, who can focus more on getting into dangerous positions vacated by defenders tracking the Dane, or playing balls into the marauding full-back.

Ultimately, the South Korean icon is an incredibly gifted player, but at 32 years old, he needs players around him who can do more of the non-stop running required in a Postecoglou system, and in Dorgu Spurs could have that and more in a prospect respected analyst Ben Mattinson claims “oozes calmness and composure”.

Therefore, while it may require a significant investment, Daniel Levy and Co should do what they can to bring the Lecce ace to N17 before one of their rivals gets to him first.