North London has recently been mentioned in connection with the Japanese defender.
Although Manor Solomon became Tottenham Hotspur‘s fifth summer acquisition, the club has been rather active in the transfer market thus far. However, it appears that Ange Postecoglou plans to continue adding players as part of his summer roster revamp.
With Clement Lenglet having returned to Barcelona, there have been rumors that players like Joe Rodon, Japhet Tanganga, and Davinson Sanchez may be on their way. As a result, new recruits at the heart of the defense appear to be necessary if the new Spurs manager is to improve a backline that allowed 63 league goals to be scored last season.
The Lilywhites have recently focused on both Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven in their hunt for excellent replacements at center back; Fabrizio Romano has said that the team is “advancing” in its discussions with the latter player.
However, there were also said to be potential worries about the Wolfsburg player’s price tag; according to writer Ben Jacobs, the north Londoners may even “abandon” their pursuit of the 22-year-old as a result.
Alternative targets might need to be taken into account, therefore turning to Ko Itakura of Borussia Monchengladbach would be a smart decision. German media sources claim that N17 is interested in the 26-year-old.
While at Celtic, Postecoglou was said to be interested in the versatile defender, who can also play in midfield. Prior to joining his current team, the Hoops were connected to the defender in both 2021 and 2022.
The Greek-Aussie would be an ideal replacement for Van de Ven if he can finally get his hands on the Japanese international this time.
Ko Itakura, who is he?
Although Itakura also appears to have amazing recovery speed—having previously been called as “incredibly fast” by analyst Hans Kraay—Van de Ven has received significant attention for his “crazy” speed, as praised by Ruben Jongkind.
The 6 foot 2 powerhouse was once hailed by Kraay as “one of the very best central defenders in the Eredivisie” during his time in the Netherlands with FC Groningen. He was also previously on the books at Manchester City, however he never played for the Etihad club.
In terms of the most recent season, the Yokohama-born rock seemed to have a stronger Bundesliga season than Van de Ven. He demonstrated his defensive prowess by averaging 2.3 tackles and interceptions per game from his 24 league games while also winning 62% of all of his duels.
From his 33 appearances in the German top division, the young Dutchman, in contrast, averaged only 2.2 tackles and interceptions per game and only won 60% of his total duels. The 6 foot 4 brute’s average match rating of 6.85, according to Sofascore, was significantly lower than that of his Gladbach counterpart (7.0).
While Itakura is unquestionably not a liability on the ball, ranking in the top 7% for pass completion among his European peers – with the Wolfsburg player ranking in just the top 27% in that regard – Van de Ven’s ability to play out of the back ensures that has performed better over the last 365 days with regard to progressive carries per 90 (1.30 v 0.86) and successful take-ons per 90 (0.58 v 0.36).
It is understandable why Postecoglou has been keeping a close eye on the £31k per week star since his time in command at Parkhead. His recent performance should make Itakura a sensible defensive choice for Postecoglou.
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