Tottenham Hotspur have long been regarded as one of the Premier League’s most in-form clubs. Daniel Levy was not a shrewd businessman.
But their on-field success left something to be desired, with an incredible Europa League win under manager Ange Postecoglou last season, with Brennan Johnson scoring the winning goal against Manchester United in the final, ending a 17-year wait for a silver medal.
But football moves at an unrelenting pace and Johnson appears to be on his way to packing his bags and leaving N17.
Brennan Johnson updates from Palace
Johnson, 24, scored 19 goals in all competitions for Tottenham last season but fell by the wayside under manager Thomas Frank, relegating him to the sidelines and scoring just two Premier League goals for the year.
Crystal Palace were certainly right to agree a healthy £35m transfer fee with the north Londoners for the versatile winger and move on, given that his basic stats reveal that the player struggles to find any success in terms of creativity and athleticism metrics.
Johnson himself has yet to give the go-ahead, but all indications suggest the deal will be completed early in the January transfer window, giving Spurs co-directors Johan Lange and Fabio Paratici plenty of time to find a replacement.
Tottenham have already missed out on Antoine Semenyo’s move to Manchester City, but remain ready to jump at any opportunity that comes their way.
But there may already be an up-and-comer on the horizon who has the potential to far surpass Johnson and become a Premier League superstar.
Spurs already upgrade Johnson
Don’t get me wrong, Tottenham will need to enter the transfer market for a new wide forward sooner or later, but they already have a prospect in Mikey Moore who could offer more than Johnson.
After all, the Welsh winger ranks in the bottom 5% of positional players in the Premier League this season for shot creation actions, in the bottom 14% for progressive passes and in the bottom 4% for take-ons per 90.
The action that creates the shot is part of the play that leads to the shot. This includes the moment a pass, take-on, or foul is drawn.
Conversely, Moore is seen as a robust, energetic winger who, like Johnson, is capable of crossing both flanks and can easily combine direct firepower with creative firepower. Moore, who is currently on loan at Rangers in the Scottish Premiership, is honing his skills in a difficult environment where the Scottish giants are struggling.
Although he has yet to establish himself as a prolific force on the senior stage, this loan spell in Scotland will do the tricky winger a world of good and his efforts in Tottenham’s youth hierarchy highlight his “superstar potential”, as scout and analyst Ben Mattinson points out.
Mikey Moore – Club stats so far | ||
|---|---|---|
club/level | app | Goal (assist) |
Tottenham U18 | twenty four | 19(13) |
rangers | twenty one | 2(2) |
tottenham | twenty one | 1(2) |
tottenham u21 | 5 | 2(2) |
Tottenham U19 | 5 | 0 (0) |
Dates via Transfermarkt | ||
Although his tenure at Rangers was testing at times, the Gers podcaster praised the “very good” prospect who showed no fear and showed obvious technical quality.
And his nimble footing has even drawn comparisons to a certain lightning-fast former Spurs star, with Spurs writer James Harris saying Moore could “bring back the Aaron Lennon of old” to north London.
Lennon didn’t score many goals, but in his prime he was a ferocious player and very dangerous on the wing.
Given that Moore made 21 senior international appearances last season, scoring his first senior goal in the Europa League and cementing his place in Postecoglou’s team, Frank could be the winner of this game and return to London next summer with experience to match his natural talent, with Johnson soon to be forgotten.
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