In recent years, Tottenham have rarely looked as formidable as they did when Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama were patrolling the midfield under Mauricio Pochettino.
The Belgian and the Kenyan thrived when it came to physically dominating opponents in the heart of the pitch, but they were also exquisite at taking possession in tight areas and driving forward with the ball.
Spurs have since struggled to recreate such an effective midfield duo – although Ange Postecoglou could now have the new Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama on his hands at Tottenham…
Tottenham could have another fantastic partnership in Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall
As you may have seen, Tottenham announced the £30m signing of Archie Gray from Leeds on Tuesday.
The England U21 international now joins another top midfield talent in Lucas Bergvall at Hotspur Way, a prodigy who was signed from Djurgarden for £8.5m in January.
Now, Gray and the Sweden international are yet to develop into the muscular powerhouses that Dembele and Wanyama were, but their ability to take the ball and progress it forward under pressure is particularly striking, and suggests to us that they could form quite an effective partnership in midfield.
As you can see in the stunning footage below, Bergvall glides across the ground just like Dembele did, but even has the composure to finish off his own run, a goalscoring instinct the Belgian did not have, netting only ten goals in 249 appearances for Spurs.
Future is incredibly bright for Spurs
Bergvall and Gray is not the only precocious pairing Tottenham have on their hands.
Spurs have also recently signed two more wonderkids in Luka Vuskovic and Ashley Phillips, two central defenders who we believe have the potential to be Tottenham’s next Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.
Of course, Postecoglou could do with a new talisman to support Heung-min Son in attack like Harry Kane used to, but the level of talent Spurs are adding all across the pitch, to compliment current diamonds such as Pape Matar Sarr, Destiny Udogie and Micky van de Ven, makes us feel as if they are on the cusp of something very special in N17.
