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Barcelona star would be massive gamble for Tottenham

By Rucker Haringey

BARCELONA, SPAIN - DECEMBER 05: Andre Gomes of FC Barcelona conducts the ball under pressure from Cristiano Piccini and William Carvalho of Sporting CP during the UEFA Champions League group D match between FC Barcelona and Sporting CP at Camp Nou on December 5, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN - DECEMBER 05: Andre Gomes of FC Barcelona conducts the ball under pressure from Cristiano Piccini and William Carvalho of Sporting CP during the UEFA Champions League group D match between FC Barcelona and Sporting CP at Camp Nou on December 5, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona are willing to let Andre Gomes head to Tottenham

Tottenham’s search for midfield help seems to have shifted from Ross Barkley to Andre Gomes in the last 24 hours. If Spurs do move for the Portuguese ace, it will be one of the biggest transfer gambles of Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure.

Reports from England claim Spurs are prepared to launch a new effort to sign Gomes after falling just short of acquiring him in the summer. There’s no specific mention of a transfer fee this time around, but it’s safe to assume it will land somewhere around £25 million. At that amount, it would represent a significant portion of Tottenham’s January transfer budget.

Gomes is the epitome of a feast or famine purchase for Pochettino. The simple truth is no one can be quite sure how good he is at this point in his career. Ever since he arrived at Barcelona, he’s really struggled to cement a solid place in the club’s starting XI. This season things have gotten even worse. Gomes has only managed to earn two La Liga starts under Ernesto Valverde.

In fairness to the Catalan giants, Gomes hasn’t shown anything during his play to earn more playing time. He’s been average at best. He would certainly argue that it’s difficult to play well without being given sufficient playing time, but his Whoscored.com player rating average of 6.34 isn’t going to turn heads.

With that being said, it’s not impossible to believe he could help Tottenham. Pochettino has a very talented squad, but Spurs don’t have the midfield talent that Barcelona is blessed with. The bar is lower for the Premier League club.

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It isn’t that much lower though. Gomes will have to play better football if he wants to make his way into Pochettino’s good graces. The good news from the player’s perspective is that he would likely get every chance to earn a spot in Tottenham’s starting XI.

In theory, Gomes could help Spurs solve arguably their biggest problem. Right now, Pochettino really lacks a defensive midfielder who can pull the strings from deep. Players like Victor Wanyama and Eric Dier are excellent at shielding the back four, but playing them both has proven to be too negative against teams that park the bus. Mousa Dembele helps things when he’s fit, but he isn’t healthy enough to count on consistently. The Belgian may be headed elsewhere this January as well.

The idea of Gomes partnering with Wanyama/Dier does have some real merit. He could be the more offensive-minded player in the pairing. He isn’t a great athlete, but he does have real skill on the ball when he’s given time and space. Gomes would be entrusted to help Tottenham put away negative opponents with his incisive passing.

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The question is whether or not he’s good enough on the ball to outweigh his athletic shortcomings. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen him on the pitch enough for Barcelona lately to know if he can hack it or not. That’s why making a big-money move for Gomes would be a serious gamble for Pochettino and company.

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