Tottenham still have work to do on Dembele signing
Tottenham are closing in on the purchase of Fulham forward Moussa Dembele, but they need to do more to bring him to White Hart Lane immediately
Tottenham’s search for a striker to provide cover for star Harry Kane appears to be nearing an end. Spurs are closing in on the purchase of Moussa Dembele from Fulham, but they need to convince the Championship club to let their 19-year old striker come to White Hart Lane immediately.
The BBC, among others, is reporting that Tottenham will complete a purchase for Dembele for a fee of approximately five million pounds. Fulham is currently under a Football League transfer embargo, so their strong preference would be to sell Dembele, but have him immediately loaned back for the remainder of the season. Most outlets are reporting that Tottenham has agreed to this as a provision of the deal.
While I’m in favor of Spurs purchasing Dembele even if they do have to loan him back to Fulham, it’s not the ideal scenario for the club. Absent of another purchase, loaning Dembele back to Fulham would still leave them without a true striker to backup Kane. That clearly puts Spurs in a precarious position while they try to push for silverware in three competitions.
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Daniel Levy should be pushing Fulham hard to bring Dembele over immediately. It’s understandable that Fulham want to keep their star given their tenuous status in the Championship table. Instead of allowing them to keep Dembele, Spurs should offer them some young players on loan to ease their pain for the rest of the season.
Tottenham is blessed with several youngsters who would be attractive to any Championship club including Fulham. If I were Levy I would even be inclined to offer the loan of more than one of Spurs’ talented youngsters to get Dembele to North London immediately.
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The two prime candidates for a move would be Harry Winks and Alex Pritchard. There are other players who could be attractive to Fulham who are further down the developmental food chain, but Winks and Pritchard are the most advanced.
Prichard, who would have likely made his mark with the senior squad if not for an injury that’s sidelined him for months, has already proven his value in the Championship for Brentford last season. Fulham would do well to add such a polished attacker to help them in their relegation battle.
Winks, is a classy midfielder who I’m surprised hasn’t gotten more of an opportunity under Pochettino this season. He’s got a great eye for an incisive pass and just needs to further adjust to the physicality of top-flight English football If not for the presence of Tom Carroll at Tottenham, I think he’d be a regular in the first team squad.
The point here is that Tottenham need to offer Fulham any player who isn’t in the current first team on loan to bring Dembele over immediately. Even if it were a three-for-one swap it would be the right move for Spurs. Dembele is a great play for the future, but he’s also needed at the club now.
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Credit Levy and company for closing the deal to purchase Moussa Dembele. He’s a bright prospect who will be a solid alternative to Harry Kane for years to come. As bright as his future is, Tottenham need to do whatever they can to bring him to the club now. There’s too much at stake for Spurs to finish the season with only one true striker on the senior squad.