It was a Premier League campaign of ups and downs for Tottenham Hotspur last season, and while missing out on the Champions League was disappointing, qualifying for the Europa League should still be considered a success.
However, with a year under his belt, Ange Postecoglou must take the Lilywhites one step further in 2024/25 and return them to Europe’s elite competition.
To do that, the Australian will need Daniel Levy and Co to supply him with some talented players in the remaining weeks of the transfer window, specifically a striker.
Now, the North Londoners have recently been linked with Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke, and while he’d be a good signing, the latest striker touted for a move to the club would be even better.
Tottenham Hotspurs’ striker search
According to a recent report from respected journalist Alasdair Gold, Tottenham are in the market for a new striker this summer, and Viktor Gyokeres is one of the players they have looked at.
Gold does mention a potential price for the Swedish international, but recent reports have claimed that Sporting CP are looking for a fee in the region of €80m, which converts to about £67m.
The other issue for the Lilywhites is that the former Coventry City ace has seemingly caught the attention of several topflight clubs, such as Arsenal and Liverpool.
That said, while signing Gyokeres would likely prove challenging and costly, his incredible ability would dramatically strengthen Spurs, and he’d be a better signing than Solanke.
How Gyokeres compares to Solanke
Okay, so the first thing to say is that given Spurs need for an out-and-out number nine this summer, signing either Solanke or Gyokeres would be a good idea and probably see their return of goals increase next season, but when it comes down to comparing the two stars, there is only one winner.
For example, in his 42 appearances last season, the Bournemouth ace scored 21 goals and provided four assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.68 games, and while that’s undeniably impressive, it does not hold a candle to the Swede’s output.
In his 50 appearances for Sporting last season, he scored a whopping 43 goals and provided 15 assists for good measure, equating to an outrageous average of a goal involvement every 0.86 games, or 1.16 goal involvements per match.
Unfortunately for the Englishman, this one-sided comparison continues when we look at their underlying numbers. For example, while the Cherries ace comes out ahead for progressive passes and aerial duels won per 90, that’s it.
In contrast, the Swedish “powerhouse”, as dubbed by data analyst Ben Mattinson, emerges victorious in every other relevant metric, such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots and shots on target, shot and goal-creating actions and successful take-ons, all per 90.
Ultimately, signing Solanke would likely see Spurs improve in attack next season.
However, if Levy and Co want to utterly transform the club’s frontline and give themselves the best chance of qualifying for the Champions League, they should do all they can to bring Gyokeres to N17 this summer – he would be a game-changer.
