Reo Griffiths is a serious flight risk for Tottenham
Tottenham are flying high under Mauricio Pochettino, but this summer is going to be tricky for Spurs. Holding on to the club’s young talent is going to become increasingly difficult as first team places become harder to come by. Striker Reo Griffiths may be the first Tottenham youngster to leave the club due to lack of real opportunities with the senior side.
It’s hard to blame Pochettino for keeping Griffiths with the youth setup. Spurs are blessed with arguably Europe’s top striker in the form of Harry Kane. Even when Kane’s missed out due to injury, Heung-Min Son has done a quality job of covering his role as the club’s top striker.
Griffiths is doing his best to force Pochettino’s hand though. His recent hat trick against Norwich was the latest in a string of strong performances from the 17-year-old hitman. It’s perfectly understandable for Griffiths to believe he deserves a shot to serve as Kane’s backup.
Other clubs have already begun to take notice of Griffiths’ exploits. RB Leipzig are already willing to offer him first team football as a means to lure him away from Spurs this summer. Expect other clubs to offer him the same sort of deal to poach him from Pochettino.
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The interest in Griffiths leaves Tottenham in a tough spot. The easy solution would be to promote Griffiths to the first team next year. He certainly couldn’t be less productive than Fernando Llorente has been as a substitute striker this season.
On the other hand, trusting a player who will just turn 18 this summer to play a meaningful role for a club with title aspirations would be a massive risk. Many Tottenham supporters want to see the club purchase a young, but somewhat established backup for Kane this summer. Griffiths has the talent required, but not the experience level that would be required for an ideal backup.
In the end, my expectation is that Pochettino will play things down the middle. He’ll give Griffiths a legitimate opportunity to earn a first team place during the summer. That could mean keeping him in the first team as the club’s third choice centre forward. Griffiths could get a lot of playing time in Cup competitions without really experiencing Premier League football.
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That should be enough to keep Griffiths in North London for at least another season. Such tactics would give Pochettino a chance to see if he’s really good enough to become a Premier League regular.