Why this Ajax star would be the perfect Dembele replacement at Tottenham
Sooner or later, Tottenham are going to have to cut Mousa Dembele loose. The experienced midfielder is out of contract in the summer and replacing the Belgian will be no straightforward task. Dembele’s a unique talent in the Spurs ranks and finding the right player to succeed him is key if the north London side are to push forward.
As expected, though, acquiring the right midfielder is going to be easier said than done. Dembele combines the ideal combination of impressive defensive awareness with the ability to glide upfield in possession. When chaos descends in the defensive ranks, nine times out of ten, the perfect scenario is to give the ball to Dembele and allow him to bring the ball away from danger and set Spurs on the front foot.
Indeed, over the last three league seasons, Dembele has completed 149 of 176 attempted dribbles, returning a 84.7% dribble success rate, and has been dispossessed just 89 times over that period at a rate of once every 46.9 minutes. Over the same period, the 31-year-old has a tackle success rate of 68.8% and he is yet to be dribbled past in the Premier League this season, with all six of his attempted tackles proving successful. Spurs fans would be reluctant to see the back of him, but ongoing injury issues coupled with age and a contractual impasse in the capital means Dembele either leave in January or on a free next summer.
It could’ve been that he left for Italy over the summer, with Inter pondering a move for the Belgium international, only for any move to fall through. Of course, a host of replacements have been mooted, but with Mateo Kovacic and Geoffrey Kondogbia both moving to Chelsea and Valencia, respectively, over the summer, options remain somewhat thin on the ground. Kovacic may only be at Chelsea on a season-long loan, yet should he impress at Stamford Bridge, the Blues may look to make that switch permanent.
Kondogbia, too, is unlikely to swap Spain for England anytime soon with Valencia demanding clubs pay his €80m release clause in full before considering offers after a successful loan spell last season. The duo were supposedly the top targets for Spurs in their pursuit of a Dembele replacement, yet moves for either seem dead in the water at the time of writing. However, it could be that Spurs turn their attention to Amsterdam once more in a bid to strengthen.
Spurs have a good working relationship with Ajax, with the club previously spending big to lure Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen and Davinson Sanchez to north London, while Spurs can add Toby Alderweireld to the Ajax alumni currently plying their trade in the capital. They could be joined by another if Spurs have their way. The club have been linked with another raid of the Johann Cruyff ArenA in the form of Frenkie de Jong. The young Dutchman is a target for Barcelona, but with an abundance of central midfield options, strengthened by the summer arrivals of Arthur and Arturo Vidal, De Jong would undoubtedly gain more game time in London than he would Camp Nou.
Of course, with Ajax in the Champions League, they are under no pressure to sell, yet rumours of a move away from the Netherlands have been circulating for the best part of 12 months. Supposedly valued at £40m, De Jong would be a sound investment by Spurs and allow for the club to phase Dembele out rather than be caught with their pants down, so to speak. A January move has been mooted, though Spurs in recent years have elected against making new additions in the winter. That’s unlikely to stop reports of a switch to England in the New Year and whether it’s at the turn of 2019 or next summer, De Jong would be a handy addition to the Spurs setup.
Of the 81 players to attempt 25 or more dribbles, De Jong has a better dribble success rate (93.8%) than any other player since the start of the 2017/18 Eredivisie season, that reinforcing a statistically calculated WhoScored.com strength of ‘dribbling’. In that time, the 21-year-old has been dispossessed just 18 times at a rate of once every 101 league minutes and he has a tackle success rate of 79.7% since the start of the 2017/18 Eredivisie campaign having been dribbled past on just 11 occasions. Of course, that would be down to Ajax’s dominance of possession in the top tier of Dutch football, yet it’s a fine return nonetheless.
With an ability to play at centre-back, too, De Jong’s capture would hand Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino greater tactical flexibility, thus allowing Spurs to play with a four-man defence that would see the Dutchman drop in at the back when on the attack and then push forward into midfield when the north London side are on the back foot. In the grand scheme of things, if Spurs can convince Ajax to part ways with De Jong for £40m, then it will look a bargain in the long run. However, with the Dutch giants under no pressure to sell, that fee should undoubtedly rise, especially as they youngster continues to thrive. Yet with time running out to secure a Dembele successor, it is a high price that Spurs will have to pay in order to progress rather than regress.
