According to Alex Crook of talkSPORT, Tottenham are showing interest in Marcel Sabitzer. The 26-year-old is coming off the back of an impressive season at RB Leipzig and has AC Milan and Arsenal keen on procuring his signature.
How good is Sabitzer?
Very good. The Austrian international has made 187 appearances in all competitions since joining Leipzig from Rapid Vienna in 2014, scoring 43 goals with 35 assists.
Last season, Sabitzer scored 16 goals and made 11 assists in 43 games. As per WhoScored, he contributed a goal/assist every 157 minutes in the Bundesliga. Only Timo Werner (28) & Patrick Schick (10) scored more, and only Christopher Nkunku (13) & Werner (8) had more assists.
Sabitzer created 59 chances, completed 77.5% of his 1344 passes, whipped in 107 crosses with 26% finding a teammate, made 16/31 successful dribbles, had 70 shots with 34% hitting the target, blocked 23 passes, made 25 clearances, won 41 free-kicks, committed one foul every 125 minutes and averaged a tackle (39) or interception (23) every 40 minutes.
Is he affordable?
Relatively. Tuttosport (h/t Milan News) said in May that Leipzig have slapped a €35m (£31.7m) asking price on Sabitzer’s head while Euro Football Rumours say the 26-year-old earns £78k-per-week/£4.06m-a-year (€86k-per-week/€4.48m-a-year). He wouldn’t break the bank, but Tottenham aren’t blessed with much of a transfer kitty this summer.
Reports state that we’re putting Danny Rose, Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Moussa Sissoko up for sale to generate funds towards new signings. Tanguy Ndombele may be deemed expendable too. Kyle Walker-Peters and Luke Amos have already been sold.
Do we actually need him?
Debatable. Sabitzer’s a versatile player who is able to operate on the right-wing and in the middle of the park, so he’d be a real asset to the squad. But with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg joining Ndombele, Sissoko, Giovani Lo Celso, Gedson Fernandes and Harry Winks in midfield, we don’t really need more competition. We have Heung-min Son, Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela and Steven Bergwijn out wide, so there’s enough depth in attack too.
Summary
Sabitzer is a talented player who could be a regular in midfield at Tottenham, but we have a more fervent need to strengthen at right-back, centre-back and up front. We don’t have a lot of money to play with, so it’s vital that we strengthen our weakest positions first before making luxury additions.
In other news, Tottenham are battling Bayern Munich and Leeds United for Inter Milan’s €20m wide-man