Spurs watch 19yo Ndidi again

SCOUTING TALK

I would remind readers once again that just because we are scouting a player does not mean we are about to buy them as is portrayed in the mainstream media and copies by the many regurgitation websites out there.

WE scout players to learn about them and we have to scout them extensively to know how they will react in different situations, we can't discover that in a few games and neither do we make knee-jerk decisions that a player is superb therefore we must buy them as some fans suggest we do. Oliver Burke is a case in point, we doesn't even have 20 games under his belt in adult football yet.

We take a keen interest in Belgium and the Belgian Pro League where we have been extensively watching 19-year-old (20 in December) Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi. We have been watching him since he caught our eye at the 2015 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand which was won by Serbia, who beat Brazil in the final 2-1 after extra time.

Since then Ndidi has won 3 full caps and transferred to KRC Genk on 15 January 2015 for £153,000. The 1.87m (6'2") tall Nigerian international plays as a defensive midfielder, although he can play at centre-back and has played in 9 games already this season, 5 in UEFA Europa League Qualification games and 4 Belgian Pro League games.

He has had 47 games starting as a defensive midfielder (4 goals, 3 assists), 4 as a centre-back (0,0), 2 as a left-back (0,0)and 1 as a right-back (0,0). We once again had a scout watch him on Sunday as Genk beat Lokeren 3-0 away from home. They were helped maintain that scoreline when Lokeren missed two penalties and had a man sent off.

Reports in Belgium (HLN) talk of an £8.52-million (€10m - AUS$14.78m - US$11.27m) offer plus bonuses for the highly promising youngster from Bundesliga outfit Hamburger SV. These have been confirmed by German paper Bild.

Genk play again on Thursday, will we be thre? Middlesbrough and West Ham will be and Chelsea are scouting him too, along with WBA.

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