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Hakan Calhanoglu is worth the price to Tottenham

By Rucker Haringey

Turkey's midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu attempts a free kick during the Euro 2016 group D football match between Spain and Turkey at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice on June 17, 2016. / AFP / TOBIAS SCHWARZ (Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Turkey's midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu attempts a free kick during the Euro 2016 group D football match between Spain and Turkey at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice on June 17, 2016. / AFP / TOBIAS SCHWARZ (Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham should pay 25 million pounds for Hakan Calhanoglu

In the last few days Tottenham have been heavily linked to Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. The Bundesliga club will reportedly hold out for a bid of 25 million pounds to pry away their Turkish star. It’s a price Spurs should be willing to pay.

Tottenham are now at the point where their transfer purchases will fall into one of two categories. they will either be a speculative starlet for the future, or they will be a star ready to immediately contribute to the first team. The latter is always going to be an expensive proposition.

In many ways, it’s the price Spurs must pay for success. They’ve built a very solid starting XI, and it will take someone exceptional to knock one of the current players out of their spot. Hakan Calhanoglu has the sort of talent to break into Mauricio Pochettino’s starting group.

That’s why Spurs shouldn’t hesitate to meet the Bundesliga club’s 25 million pound asking price. In today’s market, that’s a very reasonable asking price for a 24-year-old midfielder who can earn a starting position.

Calhanoglu has shown enough in Germany’s top flight to project as an above average Premier League starter. He posted a very solid Whoscored.com player rating average of 7.19 in 31 league matches. More impressively, he posted a 7.58 in Bayer Leverkusen’s six Champions League matches last season.

It’s his Champions League performance that excites me the most. Without flourishing on Europe’s grandest stage, I might worry that he might struggle to adapt to the Premier League much like former Leverkusen man Son Heung-Min. His ability to raise his play for his most important matches shows that he has what it takes to succeed for Spurs.

The interesting question is who might Calhanoglu replace in Pochettino’s starting XI. The manager would surely bring him into the squad slowly at first, but at some point a player of his caliber and price tag won’t be left on the bench.

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To me, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli would be the two players that would need to fight to make sure he wouldn’t cut into their playing time. Neither has started the year with great form, and both could benefit from added competition. Calhanoglu would provide healthy competition at the very least.

More likely, he’d enter into a rotation with the current starters in attacking midfield. It’s the one position where Tottenham lack proven depth, and his acquisition would change that in an instant. He’d certainly be great protection against injury or fatigue as the season grinds on.

It’s not in Daniel Levy’s nature to pay full freight for a transfer, but he’d be wise to make an exception in this instance. Hakan Calhanoglu is a player that’s worth every bit of 25 million pounds.

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