Wanyama -£11.25m - totally undecided

If you are going to write an article about why Victor Wanyama wouldn't fit in at Tottenham you might at least get how we play right.

Wanyama - totally undecided


The author at The Ugly Inside has totally changed the way we play to fit his article. he claims Southampton play with two defensive midfielders, a tactic established by Mauricio Pochettino and that the very same Mauricio Pochettinio doesn't play the same system at Tottenham.

That shows a lack of understanding I'm afraid. You can't knock the author for that, they watch Saints, not Spurs. Mousa Dembele currently plays as Morgan Schneiderlin did at Southampton, he plays as a defensive midfielder in advance of his colleague. He is the one with licence to get forward as the link player between the defence and midfield or attack. Eric Dier can do the same but to a lesser extent.

It's exactly how Jack Cork explained Southampton played under Pochettino, who of course signed Wanyama. he'll know exactly how he fits into Tottenham and wouldn't be interested in him if he didn't think he fitted. Pochettino knows who is going to fit into his system far better than any fan does, whatever club they support. Very few fans have coaching badges in any sport and they give a far better understanding of sport and how it's played, both on and particularly off the field with training and tactics.

I'm not a huge Wanyama fan, although I haven't watched him enough lately to see whether his game has improved from the slow thinking game he brought to Southampton. At Celtic in European games he took far too long to figure out what to do with the ball and playing in the Premier League should have improved that element of his game.

Dembele or Wanyama? No contest Dembele every day, the statistics rated him one of the best in Europe. I could see Wanyama replacing Dier for some Premier League games while he rests for the UEFA Champions League or cover for Dembele if he is injured.

Eric Dier, for those of you who don't know, was brought up in Portugal to play every position. They have to as part of their development and not just in training.A centre-back (he is additionally covering that position for England), a right-back, a defensive midfielder, there is no reason why he couldn't take on the Dembele role with Wanyama doing the defensive work. It is just another potential option. I don't see it being employed too much, but it's an option.

I'm indifferent whether we sign him or not, I'll get behind him if we do, but equally I won't be at all bothered if we don't. There are plenty of fish in the sea.

Transfermarkt.co.uk valuation: £11.25 million (€14.56m - US$16.22m - AUS$22.39m).