This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Carles Alena could end up at Tottenham Hotspur, per AS.
On the chalkboard
The Barcelona midfielder has not played a game for the club since the first day of La Liga and is now reportedly keen to leave the Camp Nou.
And AS reports that Spurs are an option for the 21-year-old.
But how would he do in north London?
Of course, it is difficult to examine his stats from this season given that he has played a grand total of 46 minutes in the top-flight.
But last season is instructive when he made six starts and a total of 17 appearances in La Liga.
Per WhoScored, he netted two goals last season but made just 0.4 tackles per game, 0.1 interceptions and 0 clearances.
Offensively, he averaged 0.8 shots per game, 0.5 key passes, and just 0.7 dribbles, though he did have a pass completion rate of 92.1%.
Mourinho’s produced some incredible footballing stars – how much do you know about them?
All frills, no substance
This is a classic case of a player who doesn’t know his best position.
Quite clearly, he isn’t a defensive midfielder, nor is he a No.10, so where does that leave him?
Spurs have a number of excellent ball-carrying midfielders already in the likes of Tanguy Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko, while Harry Winks offers a similar style of play to Alena with more substance to it.
Winks outstrips Alena in every single defensive stat on WhoScored and also averages more key passes per game.
At the end of the day, Spurs don’t need Alena, and it is little surprise that he has not found his way into a Barca team that are currently top of La Liga.
Daniel Levy and Jose Mourinho can do better than the Spaniard.
Meanwhile, Spurs fans have reacted to a new claim about Mauricio Pochettino.
