Jose Mourinho has struggled to make much of an impact at Tottenham Hotspur since his appointment back in November and it could get a lot worse before things start to look up.
One of his biggest downfalls so far, which perhaps comes as a surprise given his reputation over the years, has been in defence – of all the teams in the top ten in the Premier League, Spurs have conceded the second-most amount of goals.
Long-serving veteran Jan Vertonghen is heading out of the exit door at the end of the month upon the expiry of his contract and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Juan Foyth follow him, even if that’s temporary.
Would you break the bank for Merih Demiral?
Absolutely!
No way!
Eric Dier has shifted into the backline yet they are still leaking goals – and rather embarrassingly as seen at Sheffield United in midweek.
However, it appears that the Portuguese boss and the club’s recruitment team are planning to remedy that with moves in the transfer market as Football.London reporter Alasdair Gold revealed in a recent Q&A.
He said:
“Both talented players and Spurs will have watched them, but [Merih] Demiral probably isn’t in a position to move right now, only just on his way back after that ACL injury. [Ozan] Kabak is someone a lot of clubs will be looking at. He rejected Bayern and I’d imagine there will be a fight for his services.”
The 22-year-old Turkish international has been long on Spurs’ radar having been linked with a move for him during the January window.
Demiral has been restricted to just seven appearances all campaign due to a serious ACL injury but that doesn’t stop him from being one of the most promising defensive talents in the Serie A right now.
His Juve boss Mauricio Sarri has been full of praise for the £24m-rated centre-back in the past, claiming that he has “great positive energy” and training is always “bursting with energy.”
Meanwhile one of his former managers believed that Turkey had their international centre-back for the next 10 to 12 years.
The 6 foot 3 colossus has been compared to many top defenders old and new, including former Juve favourite Paolo Montero and the legendary Giorgio Chiellini.
But the most interesting link has to be with ex-United nemesis Nemanja Vidic – Turkish football expert Emre Sarigul once said: “Demiral was a Vidic fan growing up and he is a similar stature to the former Manchester United man. The Turkish international towers above most players, is physical, strong in the air and surprisingly technical with the ball for such a big man. He is a natural leader and cool under pressure.”
Whether Spurs have the finances or will to do a deal remains to be seen, but Demiral would undoubtedly strengthen a problem area for Mourinho.