Spurs will go into the new season after an impressive year with a young squad and a young manager. This season’s great showing resulted in a profit for the England national team as five players are selected for the three lions. Pochettino and Daniel Levy deserve their due credit but the job is half done and the real test starts now as these youngsters will rub shoulders with Europe’s finest and Spurs need to spend well to help them challenge on all fronts.
The most important area which needs strengthening is the striking department, which is thin on paper right now. There is no doubt now about the quality of Harry Kane and he has shut his critics who had called him a one season wonder with 25 goals this season. Heung Min Son has quality but has not settled to life in London yet and needs time to gain some momentum. Spurs need to make a statement now in the transfer market and what better way than to sign a striker who can complement Kane well.
Two strikers that are being linked with a move to White Hart Lane are AZ Alkmaar’s Vincent Janssen and Marseille’s Michy Batshuayi. Both have played brilliantly this season for their respective clubs and are naturally garnering interest from all over Europe and Spurs are said to be in advanced talks with both of them to secure their services for the next campaign. Let’s compare the two strikers and see who is better suited to play under Pochettino:
Janssen has been a revelation this season and in his first season became the top scorer of the Eredivisie with 27 goals in 34 games. Where as Batshuayi has 17 goals in 36 appearances for Marseille. At just 22 years of age, he was just behind Ibrahimovic, Cavani and Lacazette in the Ligue 1. Both are of a similar age at 21 and 22 and both have a bright future ahead of them.
But both are very different in their style of play. Batshuayi is a more direct striker and likes to dribble past opponents and has immense pace, whereas Janssen has good aerial ability and likes to stay in the box and operate around the 18 yard box. Batshuayi likes to wait for the opportunities while Janssen has great hold up play and that shows by his stat of 56 chances created this season. Both have scored all of their goals from inside the box this season and both of them bring different styles to their teams.
At this moment, Spurs need a player of a style of Batshuayi rather than Janssen because the Dutch youngster has still a lot to prove as he has played just one full season for the senior side and the Belgian Batshuayi has two full seasons under his belt. Also the French League is tougher than the Dutch and the Belgian has proved his worth against top sides like PSG. Janssen is valued at £12 million, while Batshuayi is has a release clause of £31 million but Spurs need to break the bank and go all out to sign the Belgian as the side which has created the most number of chances last season (500) needs a striker with the qualities of Batshuayi and a striker who can offer another dimension to the Spurs attack.
