There are just a few days remaining before the summer transfer window slams shut, and as things stand, Tottenham Hotspur fans have a lot to be happy about.
Daniel Levy and Co have signed a plethora of talented players, from young prospects like Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert and Yang Min-Hyeok, who could go on to become superstars to first-team ready and Premier League-proven level raisers like Dominic Solanke.
However, the decision to extend Timo Werner's loan deal for another campaign still feels like a slight mistake, as while he wasn't dreadful last season, he was underwhelming and isn't going to help the club reach the next level this year.
Interestingly, the Lilywhites were linked with a player who'd be an ideal upgrade on the German earlier this month, who has been compared to Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.
Werner's Spurs spell
In the January transfer window this year, Spurs needed to bring in some more attacking reinforcements, as following a rapid start to the season, they were starting to falter. So, Levy and Co turned to former Chelsea attacker Werner, who had fallen out of favour at RB Leipzig.
The club agreed to a six-month loan with an option to buy at £15m, hopeful that Postecoglou's aggressive style would help the 28-year-old regain the incredible goalscoring form that led to his initial transfer to Stamford Bridge in 2020.
However, instead of a game-changing attacker who scored for fun, the North Londoners ended up with a fairly useful winger who was as profligate as everyone remembered and ended up getting injured before the end of the campaign.
Now, it's important to stress that the 57-capped German was not terrible for the Lilywhites. In fact, his tally of two goals and three assists in 14 appearances was perfectly serviceable. But therein lies the problem: he's simply okay.
The Stuttgart-born ace has scored 15 goals or more only once in the last four seasons, and based on his displays last year, it doesn't look like he is going to this season either.
So, if he's not good enough to take the club forward, bringing him in for another season seems counterproductive, especially when the club was linked with someone far better already this summer, someone compared to Martinelli and Saka: Kingsley Coman.
How Coman compares to Martinelli and Saka
The player in question is Bayern Munich star Coman, who was touted for a move to N17 last week for a fee around £34m, or potentially even on a season-long loan.
The "complete" winger, as dubbed by former France U17 coach Patrick Gonfalone, is an incredible talent, and while last season wasn't his best campaign to date, he still racked up five goals and three assists, while the season prior saw him chalk up nine goals and seven assists.
With that said, most football fans are more than aware of how talented the former Paris Saint-Germain dynamo is, but where do these comparisons to Saka and Martinelli come from?
Well, aside from the positional similarities, which are plain to see, these specific comparisons stem from FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe's top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this case they concluded that the Brazilian is the number one most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Bayern ace, while the Englishman is the seventh.
The easiest way to see these similarities for yourself is to examine their underlying numbers to see where they rank closely. For the former Ituano gem, it's in metrics such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, actual non-penalty goals plus assists, short passing accuracy, crosses and ball recoveries, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists
0.53
0.58
Non-Penalty Goals + Assists
0.49
0.45
Shot Passing Accuracy
86.4%
86.5%
Crosses
4.84
4.87
Ball Recoveries
4.03
4.24
When it comes to the Gunners' number seven, he ranks closely in a number of other underlying statistics.
These include metrics such as expected assists, goals per shot and shot on target, blocks, dribblers tackled and touches in the attacking third, also all per 90.
Expected Assists
0.31
0.32
Goals per Shot
0.09
0.10
Goals per Shot on Target
0.38
0.32
Blocks
1.21
1.33
Dribblers Tackled
0.73
0.80
Touches in the Attacking Third
41.4
40.4
Now, there are also similarities beyond the raw stats that the former Juventus gem shares with the two Arsenal stars, such as his goalscoring and creative abilities.
Ultimately, while Werner isn't a dreadful player, he's not good enough to help Tottenham progress this season, and while the fans don't like them, the fact Coman has been compared to Saka and Martinelli is just another reason why Levy and Co should look to bring him in before the window closes on Friday night.
Spurs could take Maddison to new heights with late move for £50m PL star
The incredible midfielder would perfectly balance Postecoglou’s team.
ByJack Salveson HolmesAug 27, 2024