Tottenham are trying to drive down Ross Barkley’s price
It’s clear that Tottenham need to add an attacking midfielder who can unlock opponents who park the bus. Spurs’ frustrating 0-0 tie against Swansea on Saturday proved the point perfectly. The real question is who the club can realistically add when the January transfer window opens.
It’s equally as obvious that Mauricio Pochettino has two chief targets. The Argentine gaffer has expressed clear interest in both Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes and Everton ace Ross Barkley in the past. At various times last summer, it seemed that one of the two stars signing with Tottenham was a foregone conclusion.
In the end, Spurs came up empty in their chase for both stars. Barcelona pulled out of a Deadline Day deal for Gomes and Barkley’s severe injury cost him a chance to move to North London this summer. Of course, the summer wasn’t Pochettino’s last chance to sign either playmaker. Spurs are expressing interest in both players again in advance of the January window.
Reports from England claim that Barcelona may be willing to let Gomes go for a transfer fee as small as £20 million. At that price, Spurs would certainly be an interested suitor. I have serious doubts over whether or not those reports are accurate though.
In fact, I will go so far as to say that Daniel Levy and company are the source behind those reports. You may wonder why Tottenham officials would be motivated to leak a low transfer fee. The answer, clearly, is to scare Everton into dropping their January demands for Barkley.
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While I believe that Pochettino is genuinely interested in signing Gomes, I think it’s clear the club have made Barkley their number one priority. Spurs worked hard to sign Barkley all summer while Gomes’ name only popped up on Deadline Day. That could be a product of Barcelona making a late decision to let Gomes’ go, but that seems unlikely.
An even more compelling reason for Spurs to prefer Barkley is simply the comparison between the two players. Gomes has a terrific skill, but no one is accusing him of being a world-class athlete. His lack of foot speed and quick-twitch athleticism could be a serious problem in the Premier League.
Barkley, on the other hand, has already shown the requisite athleticism to thrive in England. He may not be the consistent, skillful technician than Gomes can be, but he won’t be bullied off the ball by Premier League defenders. Barkley clearly has the body type to thrive under Pochettino while acquiring Gomes would represent a significant risk on that front.
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In the end, you can expect to see a litany of reports of Tottenham’s interest in Andre Gomes pop up between now and January. Tottenham’s accountants need to convince Everton they may not go back in for Ross Barkley. Scaring Everton into lowering their asking price for their star midfielder is Spurs’ number one priority of the winter window.