Jack Grealish set to be Mauricio Pochettino’s next project at Tottenham
The Aston Villa midfielder is likely to be Tottenham’s first signing of the summer as Pochettino aims to develop another talented English youngster.
Tottenham are yet to make a signing while the rest of the top six have all invested significantly in their squads. They are rumoured to be in talks to sign Grealish for £20 million, and are the current favourites for his signature.
This may seem like an underwhelming signing in comparison to the other top clubs. However, Grealish has a lot of potential and Pochettino’s policy of developing talented youngsters has worked well.
Spurs have a strong English core to their side, which has improved significantly under the Argentine.
Dele Alli is a great example of the recent success Tottenham have had in developing English prospects because he was signed from Milton Keynes Dons and is now a top player in the Premier League.
Grealish is well-known even though he was playing in the Championship with Aston Villa last season.
They ended up coming short of achieving promotion because they were beaten 1-0 by Fulham in the Championship Play-Off Final.
He was seen as a top prospect a few seasons ago, but he has struggled to match that potential. However, he impressed last season and moving to Tottenham would be an excellent option for his career.
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Where he would play?
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Steve Bruce mostly used him in a central midfield role as part of a 4-1-4-1 formation last season. Tottenham are likely to use a slightly different set-up, but he should be in a familiar position.
A box-to-box midfield role would be the best way to use him due to his ability to break the lines through his dribbling.
There could be a major hole to fill in that position by the end of the transfer market because Mousa Dembele has been linked with a move away.
His fitness issues have stopped him from being consistent across an entire season. However, he is a major threat in peak form due to his supreme dribbling ability.
He can comfortably glide past players due to his control and physical strength, which opens up space in central areas.
Harry Winks is the most likely candidate to take Dembele’s place in the team, although he does have a different skillset.
He can be a box-to-box player, but he is better as a deep-lying playmaker due to passing being his major strength. This is assuming that Pochettino doesn’t switch away from his favoured 4-2-3-1 to another formation such as a 4-3-3.
Grealish is likely to be a long-term project, so expecting a major impact in the upcoming season would be unfair.
However, his numbers suggest that he could eventually fill Dembele’s role because he averaged 3 dribbles and 2 key passes in the Championship in comparison to an average of 2.4 and 0.6 in the Premier League for the Belgian.
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He certainly has the necessary tools for Pochettino to mould him into a first-team player. What do you make of the potential deal?