With the speculation of Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama already concluded, Mauricio Pochettino is now looking to add more steel into the squad. It was reported that the Lilly Whites were chasing the 27-year-old Italian midfielder Franco Vazquez, but the player has now joined the Europa League winners Sevilla.
With Vazquez gone, the manager will have to work on finding a realistic alternative for him. Well, not many players have been linked with a move to the club, but it is understood that Tottenham will still make a couple of signings before kicking off their 2016-17 campaign. Earlier, it was understood that the club was looking to sign the Belgian attacker Michy Batshuayi, but the 22-year-old decided to join Antonio Conte at Chelsea.
Now, the recent reports from Sky Sports have stated that while scouting Michy, Tottenham spotted the 21-year-old France U-21 international Georges-Kevin N’Koudou. Further, the same source have stated that a deal of around £10.8m has been agreed between the clubs and the player will soon be flying to London for a medical. Dailymail have reported that Clinton N’jie is set for a loan move as N’koudou is close to securing his move to the London club.
It is understood that the Argentine manager is looking to add an attacking midfielder to the squad, who could compliment Harry Kane or Vincent Janssen and for that, he has also listed Newcastle United’s Georginio Wijnaldum, but the deal looks unlikely as Magpies boss Rafa Benitez has put the rumours to an end by saying that Wijnaldum won’t be leaving the club. And with him gone, N’Koudou seems a realistic target.
Who is Georges-Kevin N’Koudou?
The 21-year-old winger is a totally unknown figure in the industry, yet there are some big clubs trying to lure him into the squad. Aged 11, he joined the youth academy of Petits Anges, after that, he also joined the academies of Paris St. Germain and AC Boulogne-Billancourt before settling down with Nantes in 2011.
Three years back, i.e, 2013, he graduated from the academy of Nantes and at the age of 18, he was handed his first official contract. The 21-year-old made his debut for the side on the first Matchday of the 2013-14 season as a substitute. The youngster went on to make 40 appearances during his two years of tenure with Nantes, before moving to Marseille in the summer of 2015.
During the previous season, he made 28 appearances for the French side in Ligue 1 and 38 in all competition, scoring 10 goals and assisting five times.
Style of Play-
Just like so many youngsters in the industry, the 21-year-old is known for his pace and due to that, he usually get past the defenders with ease. Besides pace, he is also praised for his dribbling abilities. N’Koudou can be considered as a typical winger, who loves to put some excellent crosses into the box, but sometimes, the 21-year-old takes his chance by cutting deep inside the half from the flank.
The double figure in his goal tally last season can be an easy proof that the player is a pure attacking threat. What N’Koudou needs is a proper manager, who could guide him to the glory and Pochettino is surely the best man for the cause. His record with the youngsters is fantastic and he does believe in revolving the team around them. Besides all of that, what makes him the perfect signing for the Lilly Whites is his desire to win the ball in promising areas. Well, this is what Tottenham were doing last season and adding him into the squad will only make them a stronger team than ever.
There is no doubt that N’Koudou is a diamond, but he still needs that cutting edge. There are many areas Pochettino will have to work like his first touch, his inability to react in a difficult situation and also his aerial abilities, but as we said earlier that Pochettino is known for his great record with youngsters, N’Koudou could become a wonderful signing for the team.
