Tottenham Transfer News: Stats prove Joao Gomes would be the perfect addition

 

Tottenham are close to selling Oliver Skipp to Leicester. The midfielder will link up with ex-Spurs teammate Harry Winks at the King Power Stadium, though the decision to sell Skipp leaves the north London side with a gap in a key area. 

 

While Skipp was never a first choice regular in Ange Postecoglou's debut campaign at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - the 23-year-old started just five league games last season, and one of those was at left-back - the Australian boss is wary of being caught short in the middle of the park ahead of Spurs' return to European football. 

 

Supporters have been craving for another central midfielder this summer, even with the addition of Archie Gray and emergence of Lucas Bergvall. Conor Gallagher was one heavily linked with a move to Spurs, though Chelsea and the player's reluctance to play for a rival meant a deal was complicated. 

 

 

Reports on Sunday, though, suggest Spurs are hoping to add another central midfielder before the close of the transfer window with the club reportedly turning their attention to Wolves star Joao Gomes. The Brazilian was linked with a move to Manchester United earlier this summer as Erik ten Hag's side explored their options in the market. 

 

A move failed to materialise, partly because Wolves set an extremely high asking price for the 23-year-old. Whether their stance on Gomes has softened remains to be seen, but the Brazil international is the ideal fit as Spurs look to address their number six issues. 

 

Yves Bissouma was believed to be the answer to the question, and the former Brighton man shone in the opening months of Postecoglou's reign in the capital. However, he quickly went off the boil following his red card in a narrow 1-0 win at Luton last season and never really recovered. Others have been tried in the role but the lack of quality in a key area of the pitch meant the defence was so often exposed. Indeed, Spurs conceded 61 league goals last season, a figure they need to get down. 

 

Could Gomes, then, be the answer for Spurs? First and foremost, Spurs need a ball winner in the middle of the park, and this is perhaps Gomes' standout attribute. Of the current Premier League players, he has made more tackles (130) than any other player since the start of the 2023/24 season. Tackling wasn't a huge issue for Spurs last season. They ranked fifth for tackles per game (19.1) in England's top tier afterall. 

 

However, what is notable is that while Bissouma topped the tackles per game metric for Postecoglou's side last season, both Cristian Romero (2) and Micky van de Ven (1.8) ranked fourth and fifth for Spurs. The two centre-backs shouldn't need to be making such a high volume of tackles, even in this Angeball setup. 

 

As such, a player of Gomes' ilk would go some way to bringing that number of tackles per game for the two centre-backs down. The desire to get stuck in and shield the defence effectively means the former Flamengo man would slot in well in the middle of the park for Spurs. 

 

 

While some may point to his sub-par distribution as a means of overlooking Gomes - the midfielder returned a pass success rate of just 83.3% in the Premier League last season - that is to be expected of a player who operated in a Wolves side that saw far less of the ball than Spurs. For context, Gomes started all four Copa America games for Brazil this summer and returned a pass success rate of 89.9%; only Bruno Guimares (90.9%) managed better for the Selecao in the USA. 

 

In addition, Gomes may not be the most towering central midfielder in the game, but then not every player in his position needs to dwarf opponents. The likes of N'Golo Kante, Moises Caicedo and Martin Zubimendi are all under six foot, yet shine for their respective sides, with Gomes among those who isn't overawed by his more daunting counterparts. Besides, with the way Spurs play - full-backs Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro push into central midfield where possible - the Wolves man won't be overwhelmed in a crucial part of the pitch. 

 

Tottenham have done their business quietly this window, bar the big money addition of Dominic Solanke, with last week's signing of Wilson Odobert catching suppoters off guard. Whether Gomes is the top choice to improve the side in the middle of the park remains to be seen, yet he'd significantly improve Postecoglou's central midfield options.

Tottenham Transfer News: Stats prove Joao Gomes would be the perfect addition