Tottenham have reportedly entered the race for Ajax wonderkid Frenkie de Jong, but splashing out big money on the 21-year-old would be a huge mistake.
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What’s the story?
According to Mundo Deportivo, Tottenham have joined Barcelona, Manchester City, PSG, Roma and Borussia Dortmund in the race for de Jong for £40m.
Spurs are definitely going to be searching for a new central midfielder next summer, and the report claims Pochettino is a big fan of the youngster.
Mousa Dembele will be out of contract and Victor Wanyama has been struggling with injuries, but splashing out a huge sum on an unproven player would be a huge risk.
The 21 year-old is an impressive talent with incredible potential, but he ticks none of the boxes that Dembele does, and his arrival would damage the future of Tottenham’s own Harry Winks.
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A £40m risk?
It’s no surprise that Barcelona are chasing de Jong, as the youngster is very gifted on the ball and has a wonderful eye for a pass. He has even drawn comparisons to 30 year-old Sergio Busquets, though such comparisons may be a bit premature.
However, while the young Dutchman is certainly a top talent, Winks can do the exact same job in this Tottenham side, and has already shown with his incredible performance against Real Madrid last season that he can do it at the absolute highest level.
De Jong has yet to perform at that top level, so splashing out what would presumably be a large portion of Pochettino’s transfer kitty on a 21 year-old from the Eredivisie would be a huge risk.
Tottenham should be targeting a player with superior athleticism and defensive capabilities than de Jong to replace the ageing Dembele, like Napoli’s Amadou Diawara.
Signing de Jong would improve the technical ability in Tottenham’s midfield, but it would be a crazy risk to take with Dembele leaving next summer, and could potentially devastate Winks’ Tottenham career.
So, Tottenham fans, what do you think? Go all out for de Jong? Or do you need someone with more experience? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…