Tottenham Hotspur may have been handed a double whammy without even realising this summer.
Fenerbahce completed the signing of Max Kruse, a player we have previously suggested on Vital Spurs could have been an exceptional back up for Harry Kane at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which in turn may have ruined our chances of offloading Vincent Janssen and signing Eljif Elmas this summer.
The Turkish giants confirmed the news via the club’s official Twitter account on Wednesday to put an end to all the speculation that had surrounded the German forward.
A report by the Daily Express towards the end of last month suggested we were interested in Kruse and as mentioned, we thought it could have been a good idea for the club to go after the free agent this summer.
Although he might be 31-years-old, the forward still remained extremely clinical in front of goal as he managed to find the back of the net 12 times and provide his team-mates with 14 assists in his 36 matches across all competitions (Transfermarkt).
A deadly predator in the Bundesliga, Kruse could have been an excellent option for Mauricio Pochettino to call upon should Kane find himself unavailable because of injury or tiredness – let’s face it, he wants to play every single game but sometimes that can work against him and us at times.
The former Germany international would have offered Pochettino plenty of versatility in the final third as well as he can play anywhere across the front line or even as a number 10 and his figures from WhoScored showed he was still at his best last season – he managed an average of 2.6 key passes per game and completed 1.2 dribbles per match.
But, with Kruse going to Fenerbahce, that deal may have cost us in making one of our own transfers with the Turkish giants this summer.
According to a report by Fotomac (via Sport Witness), we were allegedly planning to give them Vincent Janssen and €19million (£17m) to try and bring Elmas to the club this summer.
Although signing the highly-rated Macedonia international is still something we could potentially look into, our chances of offloading our Dutch flop may have taken a significant hit.
At the beginning of June, it seemed the 25-year-old was on his way back to the Istanbul outfit as TRT Spor (via Kramponlu Pisagor on Twitter) claimed that was where he was heading.
With Fenerbache’s financial predicament, with the club asking their fan base to help dig deep, it is hard to see them spending money on another striker following the arrival of Kruse.
We cannot give up on Janssen being taken off of our hands this summer though, as plenty of clubs are thought to be interested in him like Schalke 04 and Monterrey amongst others across the globe, however, there is no doubt that the potential route to Turkey is no longer a viable option.
And, that may mean we will have to pay more to sign Elmas if we still want him.