Since Heung-min Son left Tottenham Hotspur a 12 months in the past it has been an absolute whirlwind within the English capital.
Sonny left on good phrases. Certain, Spurs could have completed seventeenth within the Premier League however a Europa League winners medal was the least he deserved for all the pieces he had given to the Londoners.
But, his exit was the catalyst, not for something constructive, however for a sea of negativity. The Lilywhites have had three managers since his exit, completed seventeenth once more and damaged their switch document to signal £100m Sandro Tonali. It has been a rollercoaster.
Whether or not Roberto De Zerbi can repair the rubble surrounding the membership after Son’s departure is anybody’s guess, however he might want to repair just a few points that appear to be deeply entrenched inside this nice soccer membership.
Why Spurs should signal a brand new winger this summer time
As when Harry Kane left Tottenham three years in the past, it was by no means going to be simple to switch such an iconic and legendary determine. It could be nearly unattainable.
Changing Son has confirmed tough, however given his performances have been waning anyway as he received older, it mustn’t have been such an uphill wrestle to discover a participant able to scoring targets from the flanks.
On paper, final summer time’s recruitment didn’t look unhealthy. They famously missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze however they nonetheless signed some of the promising younger playmakers in Europe in Xavi Simons and a confirmed Premier League determine in Mohammed Kudus.
Randal Kolo Muani had even joined on mortgage however it will be protected to say {that a} 12 months on, they didn’t actually persuade. Simons was simply getting in control earlier than a merciless ACL rupture whereas Kudus suffered with harm for a lot of the season.
After scoring eight targets in 16 video games for Juventus in 2024/25, Kolo Muani regarded a robust decide up however his time in London was merely a catastrophe, netting simply 5 occasions in 41 matches.
Elsewhere, the likes of Wilson Odobert and Matys Tel additionally struggled, bagging six targets between them. Brennan Johnson was additionally fairly regrettably offered over the winter.
|
Spurs – Premier League prime scorers 25/26 |
|
|---|---|
|
Participant |
Purpose tally |
|
Richarlison |
11 |
|
Palhinha |
5 |
|
Romero |
4 |
|
Van de Ven |
4 |
|
Tel |
4 |
|
Solanke |
3 |
|
Simons |
2 |
|
Kudus |
2 |
Based mostly on all of that, a winger is required. They do not essentially have to be fairly nearly as good as Son – that might be a problem to seek out – but it surely’s abundantly clear that after signing Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, they should spend large to enhance the ahead line.
How Spurs can lastly exchange Son
Spurs have thrown the kitchen sink on the switch window this summer time and have come out with some extremely thrilling additions. Nonetheless, the cherry on the highest of the cake could be a batch of shiny new forwards.
Eli Junior Kroupi of Bournemouth is a number one goal to strengthen the assault however Bournemouth are demanding north of £90m and usually, don’t have any need to promote.
The story could be totally different for Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup who appears to be like fairly extra attainable this summer time. Like Kroupi, he is some of the thrilling younger forwards in Europe proper now and is recent off a World Cup the place he actually caught the attention for Norway, notably scoring a fortuitious however outstanding aim in opposition to England within the quarter-finals.
His inventory has risen because of his performances on the worldwide stage with Benfica now valuing the winger at a £68m price ticket based on TEAMtalk. Spurs are one of many sides and ENIC officers have already held talks with the Portuguese facet a couple of summer time transfer.
Would he be value it? Nicely, it is some huge cash to pay however a have a look at the information tells you that is one extremely thrilling winger who has comparable traits to the aforementioned Son.
Final season, Schjelderup scored ten targets and provided seven assists which aren’t jaw-dropping figures however there’s extra to the Norwegian than that. Certainly, as per Scout Lab’s comparability instrument, he was deemed to be comparable statistically to Manchester Metropolis’s Rayan Cherki, RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande and PSG’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in 2025/26.
Why? Nicely, like all of them and certainly like Son, he is among the best ball carriers in Europe.
In his prime, Son was some of the fascinating wingers on the earth. He was electrical, so aggressive along with his working. Only a few full-backs stood an opportunity of getting the ball from him. He was remarkably progressive.
Schjelderup is lower from an analogous material. Final season, the 22-year-old made 1.96 shot-ending carries per 90 minutes, sufficient to rank him among the many prime 4% of positionally comparable gamers in Europe’s prime 5 leagues for that metric.
He additional ranked among the many greatest 6% for productive dribbles with 0.88 per 90 and within the prime 3% for progressive carries per 90 with 5.76.
A carry is taken into account progressive if the ball is moved in the direction of the opponent’s aim at the very least 10 yards from its start line or is carried into the penalty space.
The very fact is that this younger winger’s ball management and ball manipulation is remarkably good. Try to cease him at your peril; he’ll merely skip previous you, very like Sonny in his heyday.
