Having already picked up Seb Larsson and Craig Gardner from his old club Birmingham in addition to Connor Wickham from Ipswich, Steve Bruce has wasted little time in adding to the Sunderland ranks this close season. With Man United trio Wes Brown, John O’Shea and Darron Gibson next up on the radar, the Black Cats’ summer spending spree is showing little signs of stalling, as Bruce looks to spend the budget afforded to him by the recent move of Jordan Henderson to Liverpool and Darren Bent’s January transfer to Aston Villa.
With Bruce looking to restructure his squad, however, reports are surfacing that suggest Asamoah Gyan may be looking to quit the club, despite only moving to the Stadium of Light from Rennes last season in a £13m deal. Both Zenit St Petersburg and Tottenham have been linked with the player and Gyan’s agent, Fabien Piveteau, has certainly entertained the idea of a switch, admitting:
"I can't say if he is staying or not. As far as I know, one club has tabled an offer. He is returning to the club for pre-season and we will sit down with the coach to talk about it."
Would the Ghanaian be the answer to Harry Redknapp’s striking problems this upcoming campaign? Here’s a look at some of the factors surrounding a possible move to White Hart Lane.
Harry Redknapp is clearly not convinced by any of his current four options. Only Peter Crouch started more than half of the club’s league games last season, with 20 appearances, while Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe managed 18 and 16 respectively. Robbie Keane, loaned out to West Ham in the January transfer window, was given just 2 starts by Redknapp and considering that the deal would have been permanent had West Ham dodged relegation, it’s clear the Irishman is not in his manager’s thinking.
Spurs may have finished fifth last season but their “Goals For” column highlights a real problem- they scored just 55 goals in the Premier League last season, the same as second-bottom Blackpool, with the other two promoted clubs, West Brom and Newcastle, both finding the net more often.
They may have been beaten just once at White Hart Lane but Spurs only scored more than 1 goal in 10 of their 19 home matches, with draws against relegated West Ham and Blackpool indicative of their inability to break down stubborn opponents. It’s not as if Tottenham are lacking in creative talents; when it comes to Key Passes, their main midfielders Rafael Van der Vaart (2.4), Luka Modric (2.1), Aaron Lennon (1.9) and Gareth Bale (1.6) offer plenty scoring chances for team mates- it’s a lack of quality finishing that is proving the team’s undoing.
Redknapp started seventeen of Spurs’ league games with 4-4-2 and ten games in a 4-4-1-1- formation, with Van der Vaart playing just behind a front man. With 13 Goals and 8 Assists, the Dutchman is best utilised in this position rather than out wide, where he tends to be fielded when playing in a 4-4-2. If Redknapp came find a player to compliment Van der Vaart’s game, Spurs will surely hit the net with greater frequency next term.
A look at Gyan’s stats in comparison to Tottenham’s four forwards from last season certainly indicates he could be the solution. He averaged more Shots per game (2) than any Spurs forward, with Defoe closest to his total with 1.9. Defoe’s inconsistency was a major issue for the club last season, however, with his first league goal coming -incredibly- in March, as he finished the campaign on 4 Goals.
Gyan’s finishing (1 goal per 6.2 Shots) was second only to Pavlyuchenko’s 1 goal per 5.47 Shots) with Crouch managing 1 goal for every 11.05 Shots and Keane failing to find the net at all for Tottenham. Gyan’s creativity (1.1 Key Passes per game) exceeded any of the Spurs four, with Pavlyuchenko next best on 1 and he came second to Defoe (0.9) for Successful Dribbles, with 0.7 per game, suggesting he’d offer plenty skill, as well as goals, to their forward problem.
Gyan also performed well in Aerial Duels, winning 41%. Comfortably better than Spurs forward bar Crouch (58%), with Pavlyuchenko’s 33% on a par with other top-flight forwards such as Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie, a clear indication of Gyan’s prowess in the air.
Our recent “Premier League Talismen” article also highlighted Gyan’s importance to Sunderland last season- he either scored or assisted 53% of all the goals Bruce’s side scored when he was on the pitch and his departure would leave a huge gap in the striker’s department at the Stadium of Light. For Redknapp, though, his addition to the Tottenham ranks could very well prove to be that missing ingredient up front as the club look to grab a top four finish next season in their bid for further Champions League football.
