Tottenham will play hardball with Barcelona over transfer
Tottenham won’t pay a premium price for Andre Gomes
If Barcelona think they’re going to force Tottenham to pay an exorbitant transfer fee for Andre Gomes then they have a harsh reality coming. Daniel Levy and company will not be bullied into meeting the La Liga giant’s astronomical asking price.
Reports from Spain claim that Barcelona are willing to let Gomes leave for a fee of somewhere around £31 million. I’m quite sure Barca would be overjoyed to receive that kind of cash for a midfielder they barely play. Unfortunately, their asking price won’t mean much without a buyer willing to pay the freight.
Quite simply, Spurs won’t be interested in Gomes at that price. Mauricio Pochettino’s club almost clinched a Deadline Day deal for the Portuguese midfielder this summer, but Barcelona pulled back at the last-minute. Nothing about Gomes’ performance this season has done anything to raise his stock.
He’s played a grand total of 201 La Liga minutes over five appearances this season. Even more concerning is the fact that he’s only managed a Whoscored.com player rating average of 6.48. Nothing about his play this season indicates he’s ready to play a big role at Tottenham.
It’s very difficult to see how he might fit into Pochettino’s squad at the moment. He lacks the pace to really flourish in one of Tottenham’s attacking midfield spots. Neither Christian Eriksen or Dele Alli are speed burners, but they can run circles around Gomes.
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As such, he’d need to play a deeper lying role in North London. Pochettino isn’t short of options in his defensive midfield either. Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama play big minutes when they’re fit. The emergence of Harry Winks has given Spurs a deep-lying midfielder capable of orchestrating their attack. Gomes would need to overtake the England starlet to obtain meaningful playing time.
That isn’t an impossible dream for a player of Gomes’ quality, but he’d be fighting an uphill battle. At best, his battle with Winks could be considered a coin flip for playing time. Spurs aren’t going to spend serious money in January for a player who may or may not become a regular member of their starting XI. The emphasis for Tottenham will be on quality over quantity in the winter window.
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That means that Barcelona will either need to drop Gomes’ price or look for another buyer. Tottenham will look elsewhere for midfield reinforcements if the Spanish giants don’t reconsider their demands.