Tottenham can benefit greatly from the purchase of Georges-Kevin N’Koudou
Many Tottenham fans were caught off guard by the recent reports that the club are nearing an agreement with Marseille for the purchase of winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou. Some even question the Frenchman’s fit at White Hart Lane. Not me, I think it’s fairly obvious how the wide man can provide a vital boost to Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.
Reports from England claim that Spurs are nearing a deal with Marseille that would see Tottenham pay a fee of roughly 11 million pounds for the 21-year-old winger. There is some possibility that current Tottenham attacker Clinton N’Jie could be involved in the deal as a makeweight, but that’s far from a certainty at this point.
Whether or not N’Jie ends up being part of the deal, it still makes a ton of sense from Tottenham’s perspective. The one thing the club is really missing in attack is a direct threat from the wing that can really pressure the opposing defense. That was the role N’Jie was supposed to play when he arrived last year, but he certainly didn’t show enough in his injury-plagued campaign to be seriously counted on this year.
Make no mistake, N’Koudou is far from a finished product. He did manage to claw his way into Marseille’s starting 11 this year 22 times which is pretty impressive for a 20-year-old. Even more impressive, was the real pressure he put on Ligue 1 defenders once he stepped onto the pitch.
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Tottenham have lacked that dimension from their attacking midfield ever since the sale of Andros Townsend. For all of Townsend’s faults, he was someone who wasn’t afraid to dribble the ball right at an opposing defender. That threat can be essential when trying to unlock a parked Premier League defense.
N’Koudou might earn the occasional start for Tottenham, but expect him to be a key figure off the bench. He can be a terrific change of pace late in matches when Pochettino’s side is chasing a crucial goal. He is the epitome of bringing fresh legs off the bench to try to influence a match’s last 15 minutes.
Now Pochettino will have a second striker (Vincent Janssen) and a new direct, attacking threat to turn towards late in matches. That should prove much more effective than throwing the likes of Nacer Chadli and N’Jie into the fray this past season.
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If N’Koudou can establish himself as a serious goal threat off the bench he could make quite a difference in Tottenham’s season. Spurs left far too many points on the table with their failure to break down a parked defense late in matches this past season. Those points would have been quite valuable in their Premier League positioning down the stretch.
Tottenham fans might not have heard of Georges-Kevin N’Koudou before this week, but that really doesn’t matter. His Ligue 1 pedigree shows he has every chance to positively impact Spurs on the pitch next season.