According to French publication Foot Mercato, Tottenham have started talks with PSG left-back Layvin Kurzawa over a possible move to England.
What’s the word?
The north Londoners currently have Danny Rose and Ben Davies on their books, but the long-term future of the former has been up in the air for a number of seasons now. The England international has previously admitted a desire to going back up north again, and the transfer rumours surrounding him have never really gone away, with suggestions he could have left this summer too.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below
And now, Foot Mercato claim Kurzawa’s representatives have opened talks with Spurs, West Ham and Manchester United over a potential free transfer move. The Frenchman’s contract with the Parisian giants ends in the summer of 2020, and he would be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs in January.
Watch Spurs vs Brighton Live and Free with Amazon Prime on Boxing Day
The report adds that PSG are keen to let the 27-year-old go as they have Abdou Diallo and Juan Bernat capable of filling in that role, thus leaving the door open for a potential switch to north London.
No better than Rose
Whilst Kurzawa has shown his attacking talents on the football pitch in his time with both AS Monaco and PSG – he has scored 20 times and provided 28 assists in 207 games despite only being a left-back – there are serious questions marks over his defensive solidity.
As per Whoscored, he has averaged just 1.2 tackles and 1.1 clearances per game this season in Ligue 1, whilst the fact he commits a foul per match too suggests there is a rashness to his style of play. Compare that even to Danny Rose, who has managed more tackles per game in the Premier League this season at 1.8, and completes more clearances too at 2.6.
And even in other important defensive categories like total duels won and times dribbled past in a game, Rose comfortably betters his French counterpart. As per Sofascore, the current Spurs full-back wins an impressive five duels per game at a success ratio of 57%, and is dribbled past just 0.3 times per match. In contrast, Kurzawa’s numbers are at 3.2 and 0.8 respectively.
No clues whatsoever: Which seasons do these iconic Spurs images belong to?
Can Mourinho really rely upon a player like Kurzawa who has shown he isn’t even better than option they already have? The Portuguese man has built a reputation on defensive resilience, even slamming his former club Manchester United’s defending against Barcelona last season as “awful”.
The ex-Chelsea boss is a stickler for adhering to the plan, and Kurzawa just doesn’t appear to be strong enough going back towards his own goal. It’s a move that the Lilywhites should think twice about before pursuing.
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s declining ace could be in for a rude awakening in the derby clash against Chelsea.
