Tottenham fans have a said their goodbyes to Kieran Trippier. The English defender leaves the club for Atletico Madrid, which Spurs have confirmed on their official Twitter account, however, the Lilywhites have dodged a bullet in the way Atletico purchased the player.
Reports claimed that whilst Atletico Madrid were keen to include Angel Correa as part of the transfer to bring in Trippier, Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy opted for a cash-only option, and that could prove to be a brilliant decision given Correa’s numbers from last season.
The versatile Argentine forward only managed a paltry five goals and four assists in 49 games for Atletico Madrid last season, Transfermarkt, and those kind of numbers do not make the 24-year-old the kind of player that Pochettino will want to bring in at North London.
Instead, like Trippier was sold for £20m (BBC). That represents a good sum of money to be reinvested into more signings after the coups for Jack Clarke and Tanguy Ndombele, and also sees the Lilywhites shaving off around £65,000 per week from their wage bill, Spotrac.
Letting Trippier go has been met with a positive reaction from the Lilywhites, but the fact that the club have held firm and opted for the cash option ahead of signing Correa is brilliant business. The Argentine has failed to impress over the last 12 months, and considering his booking tally is double that of his goal count from last season, avoiding him looks smart.
It was back in May 2014 that Correa rocked up in the red and white half of Madrid, signing from San Lorenzo, but his spell in La Liga has not gone how he would have imagined it, with just 20 La Liga goals in 130 games over a five year period, with the Spaniards now trying, and failing, to pawn him off to the Lilywhites.
Pochettino has got plenty of options to fill in the roles that Correa can play. The likes of Heung-Min Son, Dele Alli, Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela are all looking like staying at the club this summer, and with that kind of depth, Correa simply isn’t needed, and his numbers suggest he’s also not good enough.