According to the Telegraph, Tottenham ‘aim to sign’ Zeki Celik by ‘offloading’ Serge Aurier or Juan Foyth. We failed to adequately replace Kieran Trippier last summer, but it appears we’re finally making up for it. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic caused our revenue to fall, so we may have to let some deadwood leave to generate the funds towards a replacement.
Who is Celik?
A 23-year-old right-back who plays for LOSC Lille. Celik joined the Ligue 1 outfit from Istanbulspor in 2018 and has gone on to make 68 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal with eight assists.
He made 32/40 appearances under Christophe Galtier last season, 23 of which came in the league. As per WhoScored, Celik made two assists, created 15 chances, whipped in 53 crosses, won 23/56 aerial duels, 15/34 successful dribbles, blocked 30 passes/shots/crosses, made 33 clearances and averaged a tackle (53) or interception (26) every 26 minutes.
The Turkish international is a combative defender who is comfortable getting forward and supplementing the attack, so he has all the attributes Jose Mourinho would like.
Are we operating on a sell-to-buy policy?
Yes. It’s why we’re signing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for £15m and selling Kyle Walker-Peters for £13m. It’s why Daniel Levy took out a sizeable loan to ease the financial burden. New signings will be funded by existing players being sold.
The Daily Star said earlier this month that Aurier, Danny Rose, Foyth, Walker-Peters, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Moussa Sissoko could be offloaded to raise money, but it remains to seen whether all six players will leave in the same transfer window.
How much will Celik cost?
As per Transfermarkt, the defender’s market value is £14.4m. As per CIES Football Observatory, his value is €30m-€40m. Lille’s most expensive departures are Nicolas Pepe (£72m to Arsenal) and Victor Osimhen (£63m to SSC Napoli), so they won’t be bullied over Celik’s asking price.
With us being relatively strapped for cash, can we get a deal over the line? Celik has three more years on his deal at the Stade Pierre Mauroy and is a regular under Galtier, so Lille won’t want to part company with him for cheap. That may be bad news for our chances.
In other news, Tottenham are considering selling a fan-favourite in midfield