Spurs step up bid to sign £37m “magician”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League campaign has been nothing short of a disaster this season.

Ange Postecoglou’s side fell to their 12th defeat in just 22 games yesterday afternoon as relegation-threatened Everton played them off the park as if they were a League Two side in the FA Cup.

The North Londoners are now closer, considerably so, to the drop zone than the Champions League places, but in all the doom and gloom that has been this year, there are a few reasons to be hopeful, such as the emergence of their young talents.

The likes of Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and even Mikey Moore have all looked great and, with more time and better players around them, could help lead the club to a bright future, but they’ll have to take another even greater step forward to match the impact a young Dele Alli had in his breakthrough campaign.

The Englishman was utterly sensational during the 15/16 season, racking up 20 goal involvements in 46 games, and while he’s endured some tough times in recent years, he’s recently secured an 18-month contract with Como, and Spurs have recently been linked with someone who could become their next Dele.

Tottenham target dangerous Premier League prospect

According to a recent report from Spain, Spurs have maintained their ‘relentless pursuit’ of Brighton & Hove Albion ace Facundo Buonanotte.

The report claims that the North Londoners are keen to upgrade their midfield options and view the young Argentine as an ideal player to do so, although the Seagulls are also eager to keep hold of him once his loan with Leicester City is complete.

A potential price is not mentioned in the report, but stories from earlier this season claimed that an offer in the region of €45m

, which is about £37m, could be enough to tempt the south coast club into selling.

It could be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given how well Buonanotte has played for the Foxes, it’s one worth pursuing, especially as he shares some similarities with Dele.

How Buonanotte compares with Dele

Okay, so the first thing to clear up is that, at his best, Dele was verging on world-class during his time with Spurs, so to expect Buonanotte to reach those levels right away would be incredibly unfair and frankly foolish.

However, there are still a number of apparent similarities between the pair that should excite fans over a potential transfer.

The first similarity is that, like the Englishman, the Brighton ace is primarily an attacking midfielder but has already shown an ability to play in a variety of positions, from central and right-midfield and even right wing, which for a team as injury-riddled as Spurs, would be incredibly handy.

The second trait that the 20-year-old “magician,” as dubbed by Rising Stars XI on X, shares with the former Lilywhites star is that he already looks more than comfortable playing in the toughest league in the world despite being so young, which, again, for a team who are clearly building around youth players, is incredibly encouraging.

For example, in just 22 appearances for Leicester across all competitions, the Pérez-born dynamo has found the back of the net five times and provided three assists for good measure, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 2.75 games.

Finally, like the Milton Keynes-born maestro, the young prospect is a midfielder who seemingly excels at winning the ball in the middle and final third, driving at opposition defences and either taking a shot himself or playing the ball to one of his teammates.

For example, FBref, which compares players in similar positions in the Premier League, places the youngster in the top 3% of attacking midfielders and wingers for tackles in the attacking third, the top 6% for tackles in the middle third and the top 8% for shot-creating actions stemming from successful take-ons, all per 90.

Those stats are only made all the more impressive when you account for the fact he’s still just 20, which also suggests that he’ll only get better over the next few seasons.

Ultimately, there is an element of risk in signing someone so young, but Spurs took that risk when they signed Dele a decade ago, and while he might not quite reach those same unreal levels, Buonanotte looks like he could play a similar role for Postecoglou in North London.

Therefore, Daniel Levy and Co must do what they can to bring the young Argentine to N17 this year.