Tottenham close in on huge transfer bargain

Reports claim that Tottenham are set to sign Southampton midfielder Victor Wanyama for a huge bargain

Tottenham’s Daniel Levy can be accused of a lot of things, but you can never accuse him of being a poor fiscal negotiator. The Spurs boss is set to purchase Southampton midfield destroyer Victor Wanyama for a truly amazing transfer fee.

The Independent is reporting that the Kenyan ace is set for a North London move for the paltry transfer sum of 11 million pounds. Earlier reports claimed that Tottenham may need to pay somewhere around 25 million pounds for the defensive midfielder. The possibility that Mauricio Pochettino may once again manage Wanyama for such a low transfer fee is truly astounding.

In truth, Southampton aren’t exactly blessed with a ton of leverage as it relates to Wanyama’s status at the club. He only has one year left on his current contract and has adamantly refused to sign a new deal with the Saints.

More from Playing for 90

There’s also the small detail that Southampton have recently lost manager Ronald Koeman to Everton. It’s not as if Wanyama and Koeman were particularly close, but the Kenyan destroyer understands that losing the manager is a symptom of Southampton’s inability to hold on to their best assets.

Just in the last several seasons Wanyama has seen multiple managers (Koeman and Wanyama) leave the South Coast for better jobs, and that says nothing of the teammates he’s lost. Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and others have all made big money transfer moves to other Premier League clubs while Wanyama continued to toil away for Southampton.

For Tottenham, adding Wanyama should do wonders to solve the club’s issues in the defensive midfield. The club was entirely too dependent on the duo of Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele to almost exclusively man the double-pivot during the 2015-16 campaign. Both players had tremendous seasons, but Spurs found themselves quite vulnerable whenever either man wasn’t on the pitch.

The acquisition of Wanyama will be particularly helpful at the start of Tottenham’s campaign while Mousa Dembele misses out due to suspension. Plugging Wanyama in for Dembele doesn’t give Tottenham quite the same verve going forward, but it does give them a monstrous defensive midfield pairing to rely on.

Over the long haul of the season, the Kenyan international should find himself slotted into a nice rotation along with Dier, Dembele and perhaps one other defensive midfielder. That sort of depth and rotation will be crucial as Spurs try to compete for the Premier League title, Champions League glory and a variety of cup competitions.

Victor Wanyama may not be the perfect Spurs’ summer transfer addition, but for 11 million pounds it’s hard to imagine Tottenham making a better economical buy during this transfer window.

Home/Premier League