Tottenham eyeing West Ham star as Dembele replacement
Tottenham don’t want Masuaku to replace Ben Davies
There’s a strong rumour floating around that Tottenham are pursuing West Ham star Arthur Masuaku to replace Ben Davies this summer. The media have that story half right. Spurs are interested in the Hammers star, but they want to see if he can replace Mousa Dembele in the starting XI.
Numerous English media outlets are carrying the story that Tottenham want to sign the 24-year-old Frenchman. The vast majority of these reports talk about Masuaku as competition for Ben Davies and Danny Rose as Mauricio Pochettino’s left back of the future. Those reports are badly missing the point.
While Masuaku does play a lot of football for West Ham at left back, he’s actually started more matches for the Hammers playing in the defensive midfield. Per Whoscored.com, he’s started 11 Premier League matches as a left-sided defensive midfielder in the Premier League compared to just three starts at left back.
He’s also played his best football playing as a midfielder. His Whoscored.com player rating is an impressive 7.37 in those 11 starts. That’s significantly higher than his mark of 6.68 when he’s started as a fullback.
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Playing in a double-pivot under Pochettino would also be a perfect fit for Masuaku’s skill set. He isn’t an electric athlete, but his ability to read the game and break up play is well above average for a Premier League midfielder. His willingness to throw himself headlong into challenges would also endear himself to the Spurs manager.
Don’t forget that Pochettino prefers to have left-footed players deployed on the left side of the pitch. Dembele is Tottenham’s only left-footed defensive midfielder at the moment. if the talented, but aging Belgian is sold this summer, Pochettino will certainly want to acquire a left-footed replacement. Masuaku would be one of the few available options who’s already proven he can play big time football at the Premier League level.
The downside to targeting Masuaku is that West Ham will always be difficult to deal with for Spurs. They aren’t going to be in any hurry to let a London rival cherry pick one of their top talents. Masuaku isn’t West Ham’s biggest name, but he is one of their most talented young players. Seeing him line up for Tottenham would be a bitter pill for their fans to swallow.
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No matter what, it’s a transfer story worth watching for the foreseeable future. Just don’t believe the hype that Masuaku would play left back for Spurs. Pochettino and the club see him as a defensive midfielder all the way.