{"id":11451,"date":"2025-07-06T08:12:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T12:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/06\/race-spurt-to-sign-one-of-the-best-midfielders\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T08:12:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T12:12:43","slug":"race-spurt-to-sign-one-of-the-best-midfielders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/06\/race-spurt-to-sign-one-of-the-best-midfielders\/","title":{"rendered":"Race spurt to sign &#8220;one of the best midfielders&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/06\/race-spurt-to-sign-one-of-the-best-midfielders\/#Spurs_transfer_priority_this_summer\" >Spurs&#8217; transfer priority this summer<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/06\/race-spurt-to-sign-one-of-the-best-midfielders\/#Spurs_race_for_the_popular_midfielder\" >Spurs race for the popular midfielder<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/06\/race-spurt-to-sign-one-of-the-best-midfielders\/#Why_the_Spurs_Want_Orkun_Kokcu\" >Why the Spurs Want Orkun Kokcu<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/06\/race-spurt-to-sign-one-of-the-best-midfielders\/#DELE_20_Spurs_Open_Talk_re-signs_the_%E2%80%9CBest_Fullback%E2%80%9D_of_the_Championship\" >DELE 2.0: Spurs Open Talk re-signs the &#8220;Best Fullback&#8221; of the Championship<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Tottenham Hotspur&#8217;s roots strategy, signing exciting young talent and luxury players who can thrive in the Premier League, preceded the glittering early days of Ange Postecoglou&#8217;s tenure.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<p>But perhaps Londoners have had little experience in helping to guide the storm spells that every season brings. The low flight finish ended the post-coglu enthusiastic spell at the helm. This is a two-year stint that culminated in a victory in the Europa League and sparked two-year sentimentality to restore Tottenham&#8217;s position in the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>    Lily White created the foundation with his historic victory over Manchester United, but it is important that safe silverware be used as a springboard for success in the coming years.<\/p>\n<p>To do this, Tottenham will need to piece together teams worthy of purpose at the highest level of the Premier League and hit the mark in transfer priorities.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"spurs-39-transfer-priorities-this-summer\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spurs_transfer_priority_this_summer\"><\/span>\n                        <strong>Spurs&#8217; transfer priority this summer<\/strong><br \/>\n               <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Uncertainty continues to reign about Christian Romero&#8217;s future in the British capital. The Argentine centre back is being chased by Atletico Madrid. Atletico Madrid is willing to spend around \u00a360 million to bring him into La Liga.<\/p>\n<p>    Frank is eager to keep his defensive anchor holding onto him. However, the Danish tactician appears eager to strengthen the ranks with a sophisticated, offensive fullback &#8211; \u00a345 million Anthony Robinson on the radar, with a winger to replace Hyun Min&#8217;s son.<\/p>\n<p>He would not have been a strictly direct replacement, but the downward force at the N17 was eager to sign Brentford&#8217;s Brian Mbeumo as Tottenham&#8217;s new score, but he refused to advance from everything but United and is approaching a move to Old Trafford.<\/p>\n<p>Although the need for reinforcements is less needed in the middle, Crystal Palace&#8217;s Ebekiez pursuit has shown interest in signing creative midfielders to compete for a start-up business with something like James Madison.<\/p>\n<p>However, as Eze is locked into the Arsenal scene, it appears Daniel Levy has turned his attention to other places.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"spurs-join-race-for-sought-after-midfielder\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spurs_race_for_the_popular_midfielder\"><\/span>\n                        <strong>Spurs race for the popular midfielder<\/strong><br \/>\n               <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>According to catch-offside, Tottenham took part in the race for SL Benfica midfielder Orkunkocook.<\/p>\n<p>    Kokcu was impressed by his two terms with Benfica and won a fee of 40 million euros (\u00a334 million). The Spurs are on par with Manchester United, Tottenham and Inter Milan. However, players are believed to support the Premier League transition to Champion Liverpool.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old worked for Arne Slot in Feyenoord, but Frank&#8217;s new project provided the promise of Champions League football and saw Londoners sign an exciting new creative presence.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why-spurs-wants-orkun-kokcu\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_the_Spurs_Want_Orkun_Kokcu\"><\/span>\n                        <strong>Why the Spurs Want Orkun Kokcu<\/strong><br \/>\n               <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Kokcu is still young in his professional career, but he has already accomplished a lot. He took part in Feyenoord&#8217;s Benfica for around 30 million euros (\u00a325 million) in June 2023, and he choked up 19 goals and 22 assists in all competitions over 98 times.<\/p>\n<p>    After being told by football legend Jarp Stam as &#8220;one of the nation&#8217;s best midfielders,&#8221; while trading in the Netherlands, Kokka opposed the move to one of the European elites, instead focusing on promoting talent with Benfica.<\/p>\n<p>And considering he is praised as a &#8220;leader.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ftalentscout\/status\/1490317605156048901?s=46&amp;t=cVYwodEwJ5KqH22eIl4UYA\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Talent Scout Jacek Kulig<\/a>this upstart may turn out to be a zinc midfield force to lead the Frankish era.<\/p>\n<p>Who knows, maybe he&#8217;ll be upgraded in Madison.<\/p>\n<div class=\"table-container\">\n<table border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\" cellspacing=\"1\" style=\"\" align=\"\" summary=\"\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"3\" scope=\"col\" style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>League Statistics 24\/25 &#8211; Orkun Cocca vs James Madison<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>Statistics (*per game)<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>Kokcu<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>Madison<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>Match (start)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>33 (30)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>31 (21)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>the goal<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>assist<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>Shot (target)*<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>1.9 (0.7)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>1.3 (0.5)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>I missed a big opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>Pass completed<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>86%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>87%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>A big opportunity has been created<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>12<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>Key Pass*<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>2.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>1.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>dribble*<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>0.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>1.1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>Ball recovery*<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>5.6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>2.5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>Tackle + Intercept*<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>1.6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>1.4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><strong>The duel won*<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>3.0 (47%)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p>4.3 (53%)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"3\" style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><em>Data based on sofa score<\/em><\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<p>As you can see, Kokcu is more than capable of matching Maddison&#8217;s immeasurable creative qualities. This has actually seen England International be welcomed as a &#8220;magic&#8221; by things like statistician Statman Dave in the past.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, his two terms with 28-year-old playmaker Tottenham are defined in annoyance by a setback of regular injuries. Given that Kokcu is his four years, there is plenty of scope for the growth that Frank may want to take advantage of.<\/p>\n<p>    The Spurs guy is a little more militant than Kokcu, but the turkey talent is even more creative and clinical. Certainly, he missed two big opportunities in Primira Liga last season and scored seven goals, and has a goal-scoring edge where he can channel in a similar way to his counterpart.<\/p>\n<p>And the evidence of this is in the pudding. In fact, the cock demonstrates his ability to stand out against the opposition of a high-level Premier League.<\/p>\n<p>Madison is an incredibly dynamic midfielder, but he is flawed. At the cook, Tottenham was able to get the pass masters in the widest range needed to succeed at the highest level.<\/p>\n<p>After all, he was thrown away with heavy hitters in the Champions League last season, with the midfielder top 15% in goal scoring and shot-making action, top 19% in progressive passes and top 13% in balls per 90 earning the top 13% per FBREF.<\/p>\n<section class=\"emaki-custom-block emaki-custom-note\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<div class=\"emaki-custom note\" id=\"custom_block_33\">\n<div class=\"custom_block-content note\">\n<p>The action of creating a shot is a game that leads to a shot. These include moments like passing, take-on, fouls and more.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Tottenham may not be able to sign one of their top targets at Eze, but moving to the cock allowed Frank to get a sharp signature with room for growth &#8211; even better and more consistent than Madison.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-card  article article-card small  no-badge  active-content                      \" data-include-community-rating=\"false\" id=\"ed7e-4aa6-9a6d3333e197\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<div class=\"w-img \"><\/div>\n<p>                    <span data-field=\"label\" class=\"article-card-label\">Related<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"w-display-card-content regular article-block\">\n<h5 class=\"display-card-title \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DELE_20_Spurs_Open_Talk_re-signs_the_%E2%80%9CBest_Fullback%E2%80%9D_of_the_Championship\"><\/span>\n<p>\t\t\tDELE 2.0: Spurs Open Talk re-signs the &#8220;Best Fullback&#8221; of the Championship<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">Tottenham wants to sign smarter than the 2025\/26 season. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tottenham Hotspur&#8217;s roots strategy, signing exciting young talent and luxury players who can thrive in the Premier League, preceded the glittering early days of Ange Postecoglou&#8217;s tenure. But perhaps Londoners have had little experience in helping to guide the storm spells that every season brings. The low flight finish ended the post-coglu enthusiastic spell at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40,2639,180,43,2928],"class_list":{"0":"post-11451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-midfielders","10":"tag-race","11":"tag-sign","12":"tag-spurt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}