Click here for more of our videos
on ShotsTV.com or watch on Freeview 262
Spurs are once again being linked with a transfer bid for Eberechi Eze - but would he be the right signing for a side in need of some inspiration?
Sign up to our newsletter for the most distinctive football content delivered direct to your inbox
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to 3 Added Minutes, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
For some months now, Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a bid for Crystal Palace and England’s Eberechi Eze – but after endless entries in gossip columns without any hint of actual negotiations, are we finally getting close to a point at which Eze leaves Selhurst Park? And does he even make sense for Spurs to sign?
Is Eberechi Eze a good fit for Tottenham Hotspur?
The link between Eze and Spurs may be old, but it’s been thrust back into the spotlight not just because of how close we are to the opening of another transfer window but because of the 26-year-old’s stellar recent form.
Having scored six goals in his past seven games – including some quite brilliant strikes and one in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Aston Villa – Eze has put a relatively slow start to the season firmly in the rear view mirror and re-established his reputation as a serious threat, both as a creator and destroyer.
Out of the entire Spurs squad, only Son Heung-Min can surpass Eze’s tally of eight Premier League assists and not a single player in Ange Postecoglou’s squad has contributed towards creating more shooting opportunities. At the same time, only three Spurs players have scored more goals in the Premier League than Eze’s eight.
On that level alone, it’s easy to see why Spurs would be keen. Eze offers technical quality, audacity and effectiveness in equal measure, and is able both to generate chances and take players on while carrying the ball to a degree that few other Spurs players can offer at the same time, while being a genuine goal threat in his own right. The issue is that if Spurs were to sign Eze, it would either mean that James Maddison was displaced from his number ten spot despite being one of Spurs’ best performers, or that there would have to be a tactical recalibration.
Eze is more than capable of playing down the left wing, but when operating there the Greenwich-born player takes up considerably deeper, narrower positions than that occupied by Son Heung-Min – who, despite a relatively tepid season and advancing years, may be another player that Spurs are loathe to relegate to a rotational role too quickly. To accommodate Eze, either Spurs would need to re-imagine their attacking system to generate more width and threat from the full-back position and perhaps reposition Maddison, or ask either Eze or Maddison to play out of position.
That could work, but it would be an unusual move to pay top dollar for Eze – and given that he is under contract at Selhurst Park until 2027, it would be top dollar – and then play him outside of his favoured role. There is, of course, every chance that Spurs have a new manager come the summer, with Ange Postecoglou under immense pressure after a poor league campaign, and a new coach may want to set Spurs up in a very different manner anyway, perhaps one into which Eze, Son and Maddison could slot in a more comfortable manner. But as it stands, signing Eze could mean making a very hard decision concerning the future of one of his new team-mates.
Will Spurs sign Eberechi Eze this summer?
Any discussion of Eze’s role at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium becomes rather academic if Spurs don’t actually sign him – and while the rumour mill is keen to make the connection and the interest appears to be genuine, there are no assurances that a deal will be struck.
While stories linking Eze with Spurs are perhaps more persistent and even plausible than those linking him to other teams, there are no shortage of suggestions that other Premier League sides are keeping tabs on him – Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs, in particular, are often mentioned as prospective suitors.
Given that Spurs have endured a difficult season, they may find it hard to offer a more attractive landing spot then those who finished considerably further up the league table. Champions League football, with the club will get if they beat Manchester United in Wednesday’s Europa League final in Bilbao, would help.
Then there are the financial considerations. The Daily Telegraph recently reported that Spurs are set to operate under a “sell to buy” policy this summer, with the club in possession of a £279m net transfer debt. In what the Telegraph speculate could be a “tough window” for Tottenham, spending up to £68m on Eze (the totality of the release clause in his deal with Palace, which they are likely to want paid in full) may not be straightforward.
The sales of players such as Richarlison and Timo Werner would help, but are unlikely to cover the outlay entirely, and with Maddison and Son in the squad it may be deemed untenable to spend such a significant amount on a player who would be competing with two of Spurs’ best attacking players for minutes.
Still, the stories endure and it’s clear that Spurs would love to add Eze to their ranks if the cards fall the right way – and while there are pragmatic arguments against signing the Crystal Palace player, at least at such a high price point, his thrilling combination of qualities would undeniably lift the spirits at a club who could do with a pick-me-up.