Tottenham’s underwhelming performance against Southampton is unlikely to have told Mauricio Pochettino anything new. Instead, it will merely have confirmed what anyone who has watched Christian Eriksen over the past few seasons already surmised to be true.
The Dane’s absence through illness came as a huge blow, Spurs dropping two points in the race for the top four. Several of their other key men were also struck by the virus but soldiered on, never quite making it out of second gear.
Games like this happen to every team, in every season. However, the 1-1 draw will only have affirmed that they needs to be dipping into the market to bring in more width.
On several occasions this season, they have rued the lack of one more option. The likes of Riyad Mahrez and Malcom have been touted as potential answers to that question, but it is Ajax’s David Neres who is suddenly in the frame, courtesy of reports from Goal Brasil.
Ahead of a trip to Newport County in the FA Cup this weekend, Pochettino was typically coy in his press conference about the notion of any January business.
“If you want players that arrive to the Premier League or to change the team here in the Premier League, you need to know and be sure if you’re going to invest big money,” was once again his mantra.
With the clock ticking steadily away on the remainder of this month’s window, the Neres deal looks more likely to happen in the summer than in the next week.
Ajax are well acquainted with Spurs’ recruitment team, having seen a number of their former players head to north London in recent years: Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, and the latest, of course, Davinson Sanchez, less than six months ago.
What will Neres add?
It is no coincidence that Neres is also being linked with Liverpool, the theory being that were he to play on the far side of Jurgen Klopp’s attack, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane would move into a more central role.
Spurs’ formation operates very differently, not least because they boast almost certainly the finest out-and-out striker in England. Yet, it is easy to see where the Dutch side’s latest prodigy would fit in.
Pochettino requires a player who, despite being only 20, is confident on the ball. A deft first touch, a willingness to run at defenders – these are both attributes that Neres can lay claim to.
Perhaps, given how his Eredivisie season has gone so far, waiting until the end of the campaign to make a move would be no bad thing. While he has contributed eight goals and nine assists so far, a few of the division’s better full-backs have started to work him out, particularly his tendency to cut inside.
What remains, is for him to consistently beat defenders, one-on-one. Were he to move to the Premier League, where he would have to increase his fitness – and who better to do that under, than the notoriously demanding Pochettino – that is a flaw that could be ironed out. That is part of the package, so it seems, when buying young players.
Another quiet January beckons, but the prospect of Neres’ summer arrival is a tantalising one.
