Tottenham Hotspur may be resigned to just free agents and swap deals this summer as this Evening Standard report have claimed in recent weeks, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
There are plenty of players who can still cut the mustard in the Premier League, and the reality of post-pandemic life is going to be along these lines anyway, so you might as well accept it now.
One player that the north London outfit have continued to be linked with is AFC Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser, who appears set to depart the south coasters at the end of the current campaign following the expiry of his contract.
Spurs may also have to endure a battle with their arch-rivals Arsenal to clinch him – Daniel Levy must ensure they come out on top.
The 26-year-old hasn’t had the best of seasons, scoring just once in 32 appearances, but the Cherries have struggled altogether as they sit in the relegation zone.
It was only the 2018/19 campaign which saw the Scot in electric form having bagged eight goals whilst laying on a whopping 15 assists from 42 matches, via Transfermarkt – and it’ll be on Jose Mourinho who needs to bring that back out of him.
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Given his wealth of riches out wide, it could be quite hard to do, so why not take a page out of Harry Redknapp’s book and convert him into a wing-back instead?
It’s the one position at Spurs that’s a little shaky at the minute – Ben Davies is the definition of mediocrity with Ryan Sessegnon still not up to the standard of the top-flight while Serge Aurier is regularly berated by his own fans for being a “liability.”
Back in 2011, Redknapp told Danny Rose that his future lies at left-back if he’s ever going to play for the England national side (talkSPORT via HITC).
Look how that turned out.
Even though he’s currently out on loan at Newcastle, he’s had a very good run at the club having racked up 214 appearances since his debut ten years ago.
Spurs also, on the whole, do not provide enough crosses for Harry Kane to feed off – the best in the squad this term has been Aurier, who has averaged just 0.7 crosses per game, then it’s Davies (0.6), Heung-min Son (0.4) and Erik Lamela (0.4).
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Meanwhile, Fraser has managed at least one cross per match for Bournemouth and recorded better figures coming last season where he provided two each game as per WhoScored.
The speedster has even been clocked at over 34 km/h in the past, putting him inside the top 20 of the fastest players in the division, too.
Spurs simply mustn’t turn their nose up at this free swoop. Under the right coaching, he could become a vital asset to the club.
AND in other news, Spurs £35m target sends BIG transfer HINT to Levy and Jose…