Spurs have been linked with a transfer deal for an impressive winger making waves in France
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If any Premier League team is going to be busy this January, it’s Tottenham Hotspur. Few teams in the top flight have a list of needs as long as theirs, and few have quite so much money to spend, at least based on the profit and sustainability rules – and fixing a misfiring attack is among their many priorities.
Despite the signings of Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons in the summer, Spurs’ attack is still struggling, at least relative to pre-season expectations. They are firmly in the middle of the pack for goals scored but, even more damningly, have the second lowest expected goals tally in the entire division, ahead of only Sunderland. Chance creation has been a significant problem.
So while there are other areas of the team which need addressing this winter, it’s likely that a new creative forward will be close to the top of the shopping list – and according to a new report by The Daily Mail, AS Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche could be the man that they want for the job.
Why Maghnes Akliouche could be just what Spurs need this January
A left-footed winger who typically comes in off the right, Akliouche ticks many of the boxes for Spurs – not just a winger who can create chances, but who would offer some balance to an attack which has lacked a consistent threat down the right wing this season.
With Brennan Johnson expected to leave the club in the near future, the 23-year-old Akliouche, who has won five caps for France and recently scored his first international goal against Azerbaijan, would essentially be filling a clear vacancy along the front line, and filling it in a way that might better compliment Spurs’ attacking play.
Not a player who’s likely to burst off the shoulder of the last man but rather one who looks to collect the ball in deeper areas, Akliouche is a good dribbler but a better passer, and one who creates opportunities at a healthy rate – on average, he’s been involved in the build-up to just over four shooting chances per match for the last year with Monaco.
That resulted in an impressive total of 10 Ligue 1 assists last season, with two more added since the summer. He has proven the ability to make a dent in the final third, but is also excellent at finding space in deeper areas and linking up with the midfield – and given that progressing possession from the midfield to the attack has been another major problem under Thomas Frank, that strength of Akliouche’s also lines up neatly with Spurs’ needs.
If he has a weakness, it’s that he’s unlikely to take up the goalscoring mantle himself, at least not in the volume that would be required – Akliouche has scored eight league goals for Lyon since the start of the 2024/25 season from 12.8xG at a rate of around one goal every five matches. That’s a respectable tally but his conversion rate reflects the fact that he is not a natural finisher.
Still, his all-round game offers much that Spurs need, and simply signing a new striker won’t sort out the goalscoring problems they have given that the problem is the appallingly low volume and quality of chances that they’re creating in the first place. Akliouche could be one part of the puzzle. But will they be able to sign him this January?
Will Spurs sign Akliouche in the winter transfer window?
Akliouche’s rise through the ranks at Monaco and subsequent call-up to the French national team hasn’t, of course, gone unnoticed, and while The Daily Mail may believe that Spurs are keen on acquiring him they are unlikely to be alone.
PSG showed considerable interest over the summer and while that came to nothing, it’s perfectly possible that they’ll be back again if Akliouche becomes available – and Arsenal were rumoured to be monitoring him, too. Perhaps beating Spurs to the signing of Eberechi Eze means that they won’t have the need to repeat the trick in January.
What does appear to have changed since the summer – although it’s not abundantly clear why – is that Akliouche’s asking price has dropped. PSG allegedly backed away because the €80m (£70m) being demanded was too steep for them, but now several sources (albeit none of the more reliable) suggest that Monaco are willing to part with the winger for a fee in the region of €60-65m, up to around £52m.
There’s no obvious reason for such a change of heart (Akliouche is under contract until 2028 and there are no reports of negotiations over a new deal) but with broadsheet reports seemingly agreeing that a transfer deal for the Frenchman would now be more straightforward than it was over the summer, it seems very likely that something has happened to make Monaco reconsider their stance. That could be to Spurs’ benefit, but it would be a surprise if nobody else made a move.
As well as Arsenal and PSG, Liverpool have also been linked by Football365 and a rash of similar stories may well follow – but Spurs are one of only a handful of teams with the cash to burn this January and that should at least narrow the field.
This is a deal which Spurs should be well-positioned to strike and which, if it is indeed now possible for a reasonable price, they should probably take a chance on. It might just be a step towards a more balanced and complete side which gives its forwards something to feed on for the rest of the season.