Liverpool and Tottenham battling for Barcelona midfielder’s signature

The Reds are set to rival Tottenham for André Gomes’ signature in the summer.

According to reports, the Portuguese midfielder is a major summer target for both clubs. Gomes has struggled to live up to expectations during his time in Barcelona. It seems like now might be the right time for the Catalans to cash in on him in order to regain some of their expenditure on him. The inflated prices in the transfer market will certainly help in this regard especially because multiple Premier League clubs are after him.

Barcelona currently have a surplus of midfielders, so that also may be influencing their decision to sell him. Philippe Coutinho was brought in during the last transfer window, and there are rumours that Brazilian starlet Arthur may join in January next year. Even if Arda Turan and Rafinha permanently move in the summer, Barça will still have nine midfielders vying for places. This isn’t good from a financial or a footballing standpoint; it’s a waste of the wage budget and it hurts morale due to lack of game time for some players.

Gomes has the potential to be a top player; he’s intelligent, technical and powerful at his best. However, his mentality seems to be his main issue as a lack of confidence has stifled his development. Although the high expectations and intellectually demanding playing style at Barcelona are hard to adjust to.

At 24-years-old he still has plenty of time to fill his potential. Jürgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino both have deserved reputations for improving players. With Gomes’ range of abilities, he could be moulded into a variety of different positions. This naturally makes him appealing to both managers because of their propensity to use various tactical setups.

Which team suits him better?

Spurs would be the better fit of the two clubs. Pochettino’s does like to press the opposition intensely, but this is usually done in stages. They also alternate between various styles depending on the strengths of the opposition.

Liverpool, on the other hand, rely a lot more on a high press to destabilise the opposition. Gomes is unlikely to suit Liverpool’s high-octane style although he could be useful in helping break down a low block from the opposition. He is also used to counter-pressing due to it being a key element of Ernesto Valverde’s Barcelona, which is beneficial for both teams.

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Pochettino could mould Gomes into a deep-lying playmaker and he could act as part of the long-term solution to replace Mousa Dembélé along with Harry Winks. In that role he would have the space and time to control games and create openings which would suit him. Therefore, unless Liverpool transition away from their reliance on the high press, Spurs is the better option.