The presence of Mauricio Pochettino at the Republic of Ireland’s 1-1 draw with Holland at the weekend, managed to spark not just one, but two transfer rumours.
Pochettino was sat next to the agent of Shane Long, a player signed by Southampton during Paul Mitchell’s time at the club. The Irish striker was on target in front of the Spurs manager and there was soon talk that Long was a target, as the club look for alternatives to Harry Kane.
Yet other newspapers claimed that Pochettino was instead interested in the Dutch forward Vincent Janssen. The 21-year old was recently on target for Holland in their friendly against England and has attracted the attention of plenty of top clubs, after a season in which he’s scored 27 league goals for AZ Alkmaar in just 34 games.
So which one does Poch want? It is Janssen who seems the more natural fit. He’s young, talented and has the potential to be something special, but a valuation of £15m could put Tottenham off taking a chance on a player with just one year of Eredivisie experience.
Meanwhile, in the green corner is Long, who is a much more predictable beast. The Southampton striker causes a lot of problems for Premier League defenders and would be a useful backup for Kane. He’s unlikely though to break any goalscoring records.
Long’s total of ten this season in the Premier League is the first time that he’s hit double figures in the top flight. At 29, he’s older than the type of player the club normally goes for and Southampton would probably be looking to make a profit on the £12m they paid to Hull in 2014.
So which one would you rather arrive over the summer? Perhaps it’s not so crazy to hope for both, or at least players of each type. An experienced Premier League campaigner who we know we could rely upon and a youngster with a high ceiling, really would be the best of both worlds and the perfect compliment to Kane.
Neither of them; should really be looking for a striker with that little bit of extra.
Mauro icardi
Long is an ok player, but he wont improve squad & is not good enough in my opinion if we are to be serious title contenders. Have not seen the dutch bloke , cant even see him at euros! Defoe would still do a job for a couple of years. As a half hour sub. Would get extra points. Need to see euros as i cant think of any players
We should get Lacazette.
A world class winger will do
Is it possible to get Gareth bale. n getting an awesome CAM will make us prepared for the champions league #COYS
slight improvements in midfielfing. ericsson as early sub n if reqd, dembele as s late substitute. dele alli along with new right winger n left one. kane leading from forward.