This “elite” £60 million attacking star might join Tottenham Hotspur in January.
Tottenham Hotspur are currently dealing with an injury crisis, with six first-team players sidelined due to a variety of ailments. The greatest missing from the team, however, is probably summer addition James Maddison.
The former Leicester City offensive midfielder joined the London club for £40 million in the summer after the Foxes were relegated to the Championship in unprecedented fashion.
Maddison has made a tremendous impact on the squad since his arrival, scoring three goals and contributing five assists in 11 outings before suffering a serious ankle injury that will keep him out until after Christmas.
Nonetheless, Ange Postecoglou is not wasting time and has already identified the ideal player to sign in January to give depth and quality to the number ’10’ position.
Spurs might make a £60 million signing.
Postecoglou, according to The Sun, is hoping to bolster his squad following an amazing start to the 2023/24 season by adding Sporting Clube de Portugal attacking talent Pedro Goncalves to the club. The 25-year-old has a £60 million release clause that Spurs will look to activate in January to relieve Maddison of creative responsibility for the rest of the season.
Furthermore, the newspaper claims that Tottenham have sent scouts to watch the Portugal international many times this season, including the derby against Benfica on Sunday.
Goncalves is well-known in north London, having scored a spectacular 46-yard strike against Tottenham‘s arch rivals Arsenal last season, as Sporting knocked Mikel Arteta’s team out of the Europa League.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers school product has had a successful season at Sporting under Ruben Amorim, scoring five goals and providing three assists in 15 games as the Portuguese giants sit joint-top of the Primeira Liga.
Statistics for Pedro Goncalves
Goncalves joined Sporting this season, just six months after club captain Bruno Fernandes joined Manchester United, where he scored 63 goals and registered 50 assists in 137 games.
It seems hard to replace Fernandes‘ numbers during his two-and-a-half-year stay in Lisbon. Goncalves, on the other hand, has 129 goal contributions in 225 games, with 79 goals and 50 assists.
Former Wolves assistant manager Rui Pedro even said that Goncalves “used to stand out” in training during his time at Molineux and predicted that he will join a big club soon.
That time could come soon, as the playmaker has been linked with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. However, Goncalves is unlikely to be eager to play second fiddle to Maddison considering that the former is outperforming the England international in a number of important parameters.
According to the table, Maddison is the better creative threat, but if the Lilywhites want more goals, Goncalves is the better and brighter alternative, especially considering he scored 20 goals in 51 games last season.
Regardless, Postecoglou will find a way to combine the two teams. Goncalves is a highly flexible player who has played in a variety of positions for Sporting this season, including the left and right wing, as well as the number ’10’ position, but has also seen time in central midfield.
According to WhoScored, Goncalves has performed better in a deeper role in the middle of the park than as an attacking midfielder.
The Spurs manager could play Goncalves on the right flank with Maddison in the middle, or use the duo as double ‘8s’ with a more defensive-minded midfielder like Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg behind them in a 4-3-3 that would terrorise even the lowest of low blocks.
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