In a flash, the mood surrounding Tottenham Hotspur has dipped.
Saturday’s friendly double-header against League One opposition did little to inspire confidence. They first drew 2-2 with Wycombe Wanderers at Hotspur Way, before playing out a 0-0 stalemate away to Luton Town later in the afternoon.
History advises that reading too much into pre-season results is a fool’s errand, but with transfer target Morgan Gibbs-White signing a new three-year contract at Nottingham Forest hours after the dismal draw at Kenilworth Road, concerns that Spurs are behind schedule in their preparations for the upcoming season are beginning to grow.
James Maddison has travelled with the squad for their two-game tour to Hong Kong and South Korea as he ramps up his recovery from a knee injury sustained in early May, but is yet to be included in a pre-season matchday squad. New head coach Thomas Frank has confirmed Maddison’s creative partner, Dejan Kulusevski, struck down with a knee issue of his own a week later, will not be fit for the start of the new campaign.
Pape Matar Sarr’s two goals from an advanced midfield position against Wycombe demonstrated there are ready-made alternatives to that pair in the squad, but their pursuit of Gibbs-White indicates the club want to make improvements in the creativity department.
Here’s the kicker: Gibbs-White is a rare footballer. There are not many in the Premier League, or indeed around Europe, who combine first-rate technical and playmaking skills with incessant running off the ball and leadership qualities.
Though his raw attacking numbers rarely jump off the page, Gibbs-White stands out for the responsibility he shoulders for his team. Forest averaged just 41 per cent possession last season — the third-lowest share in the 20-team division — meaning chances to affect the game close to goal did not come easily. But when they did, Gibbs-White was usually first on the scene.
The 25-year-old was behind most of their positive attacking actions, getting Forest into the final third at speed. Per analytics company Footovision, only two Premier League players were involved in a higher proportion of their team’s counter-attacks — either via a pass or a carry — than Gibbs-White (15 per cent), illustrating his desire to drive forward whenever the opportunity arises.
Looking for players who are similarly front-footed and determined to drive their team up the pitch seems a good place to start our search.
The scatterplot below outlines central midfielders across Europe’s top four leagues who completed a high proportion of their team’s progressive passes and carries, with Gibbs-White a clear double threat.
As the graphic above outlines, one player who stood out for their ability to progress the ball in different ways was Werder Bremen’s Romano Schmid.
Operating as a left-sided central midfielder in coach Ole Werner’s 3-5-2, Schmid had the licence to push forward and act as his side’s key creative catalyst — with only Michael Olise and Thomas Muller of Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz the only Bundesliga players to register a higher rate of passes into the penalty area last season than his 7.5 per 90 minutes.
When mapping the sheer volume of box entries among his team-mates, it is clear that nearly every Bremen attacking move runs through Schmid — he led his side for the most carries and passes into the opposition penalty area.
Specifically, the 25-year-old has a penchant for finding runners in-behind with perfectly weighted passes.
This can either come after drifting closer to the touchline and deftly playing the ball forward with the outside of his right foot…
… or it can be more in the left half-space, zipping slide-rule passes inside the full-back.
In Europe’s top five leagues last season, only Brighton & Hove Albion’s Georginio Rutter has a higher share of passes made that were progressive than Schmid’s 23 per cent. If it’s searching, punchy creative actions that you are looking for, then the Austria international would provide good value in the market.
Another Bundesliga option is Nadiem Amiri, who, like Gibbs-White, started his career as a pure No 10 before developing into a more all-round central midfielder.
After impressing as a youngster for Hoffenheim, 28-year-old Amiri earned a move to Bayer Leverkusen in 2019, where he became a key part of their midfield, playing either alongside or slightly behind Kai Havertz.
Like Gibbs-White, who typically lines up as a No 10 but plays an all-action central midfield role, Amiri has dropped deeper into midfield as he has grown older. Now playing for Mainz, he is more frequently seen picking up the ball from defence and driving it through the middle third than providing the final pass in goal-scoring areas.
While he is not a traditional No 10, Amiri is still capable of providing goal contributions from midfield. He racked up seven goals and five assists in the Bundesliga last season — with a whipped free kick in a 4-1 win against Bochum arguably the pick of the bunch — and played an essential part as Mainz finished sixth, qualifying for the Conference League. For his role in their impressive campaign, Amiri was rewarded with a Germany recall in March, more than four years after his previous cap.
Amiri is not a name many Spurs fans outside Germany will be familiar with, evoking memories of a transfer policy that centred on unearthing gems from around Europe and beyond. While a Premier League-proven option may help ease the blow of missing out on Gibbs-White, data indicates he could provide similar qualities to Frank’s midfield.
Equally important for Tottenham, in addition to being a player who can move the ball incisively at speed, any incoming midfielder would ideally help to beef up their counter-pressing efforts. Gibbs-White would have brought athleticism and physicality to the midfield — a specialist second-ball winner who is just as helpful when it comes to seeing off opposition counter-attacks as he is contributing to his team’s own.
In that regard, Athletic Club’s Oihan Sancet emerges as an intriguing alternative. Standing at 188cm (6ft 2in), the 25-year-old is just off the back of his most prolific goalscoring season, netting 17 goals in all competitions from his second-striker role.
Going forward, Sancet is technically secure, happy to receive the ball in tight spaces and spin away from pressure, a player whose first thought is usually to move the ball up the pitch.
His catalogue of finishes from the season just gone is impressive; arriving late to sweep home from cutbacks, ghosting between centre-backs and getting his head to crosses, and striking the ball from distance. Here he is, thumping home a volley at the back-post in a 7-1 rout of Real Valladolid, displaying the technique that has driven a significant over-performance in front of goal since he became a regular in La Liga five seasons ago.
As shown by their resistance to fend off Barcelona and keep hold of Nico Williams this summer, striking a deal with Champions League-bound Athletic would not be easy.
Ernesto Valverde’s team are a fierce pressing side — only Barcelona recovered the ball more often in the attacking third last season — and Sancet played his part with aggressive pressing from the front. The asking price is sure to be high, but the 25-year-old brings that blend of creativity, attacking threat and hard work without the ball that could help to plug a few gaps in Frank’s new-look midfield.
Another possible alternative is Harvey Elliott, who starred for England as they won the Under-21 European Championship this summer. Elliott, 22, is a lifelong Liverpool fan and has made it clear that he would prioritise staying at Anfield if he found regular game-time under Arne Slot, but conceded that he will “review his situation” in the coming weeks with the aim of being picked for next year’s World Cup.
While Elliott has featured primarily as a wide player, he is typically most dangerous when coming inside and operating in the half-spaces. He is not a like-for-like alternative to Gibbs-White, but given Liverpool value him at around £50million ($67.7m), he represents a potentially exciting market opportunity.
So, while losing out on Gibbs-White’s signature will sting, there are several alternatives for Spurs to consider.
They may not be as ready-made or familiar to Premier League audiences as the Forest man, but given their immediate need for a creative spark in midfield, a data-influenced signing from further afield may be the best route out of an awkward situation.
(Top photos: Schmid, left, and Sancet; Getty Images)