Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is understood to being not entirely happy with the contribution from Kevin Wimmer, and the Austrian defender could be sold in the summer transfer window. The Mirror reports that Pochettino is preparing to sell the Austrian for £20m in order to raise funds for new signings, who will be able to provide better competition to the centre-back duo of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. He has reportedly identified Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson and Swansea City defender Alfie Mawson as potential players who can succeed.
The 24-year-old Wimmer came to Spurs in the summer of 2015 for around £4.3million from German club FC Koln. However, he has failed to establish himself with the North Londoners. Even though he signed a new contract exactly a year ago, Pochettino does not regard Wimmer as a player who can help the team in what is expected to be a difficult campaign ahead.
Even though we managed to finish second in the Premier League and secure a Champions League spot for a second consecutive season, the biggest challenge next season will be to go one step further and win a trophy – or even the Premier League. And Poch believes that either Gibson or Mawson will be able to help the team better than Wimmer.
Ben Gibson was on loan at various clubs during the early part of his career, but he became an established player at Middlesbrough from the 2013-14 season. After several years of dominating the Championship as one of the top defenders, Gibson caught the attention of many clubs during the 2016-17 season.
Even though Middlesbrough were relegated back to the Championship, the club had one of the best defensive records amongst the teams in the lower half of the table. They were ultimately let down by their inability to score goals rather than being unable to defend properly.
Gibson would be keen on returning to the Premier League and a bid from Spurs will be extremely hard for Middlesbrough to turn down. The 24-year-old is an English player and will add more British names to the Spurs squad, while a potential problem could come in the form of his current contract’s length. Since Gibson is tied down to Boro until 2021, it may take a substantial amount of transfer fees in order to sign him.
Alfie Mawson is a 23-year-old and has been at Swansea City only for a year after coming in from Barnsley last summer. Mawson had an excellent debut season for Swansea as he made 27 league appearances, chipping in with 4 goals, playing an important role under Paul Clement in helping his team avoid the fate of relegation from the Premier League.
Mawson has further enhanced his reputation following a strong display in the U-21 Euros with the England U-21 team. He has a contract with the Welsh outfit until 2020.
They might be ready to do it – I suppose you always need to adapt to circumstances. But I believe Spurs would much rather just keep Wimmer.