Spurs in Pole Position to Sign £55m ‘magic’ Maddison Rival

Tottenham Hotspur still have six Premier League games left before the curtain falls on Ange Postecoglou’s first spell at the helm, and where the Lilyewhites will end up is anyone’s guess.

Spurs are six points behind Aston Villa in the top four with two games remaining, but face Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City before the end of the season and will need to show strong form to secure a place among Europe’s elite to secure next year.

Will that happen? Does it even matter? These are pertinent questions and, frankly, there is more than enough promise to emerge from the roots of a new era this year – next season, wherever the football is played, will be a better measure of where Postecoglou’s project stands .

Of course, he will need to make some signings to continue the progress and while Champions League football would help bring in the best, Spurs have shown their potential to be successful over the past year.

Spurs in pole position for Premier League star

According to a recent report from Football Transfers, Tottenham are in prime position to sign Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze, who is attracting the attention of some Premier League giants after working in south London.

Manchester City are also interested in the England star, who has already won two caps, but he would prefer to stay in London, which puts Spurs in a prime position.

It is claimed that an amount of €64m (around £55m) would be needed to convince Oliver Glasner’s side to part with their mercurial talent, but Postecoglou is said to have been granted a war chest ahead of a summer spending spree , hopes the right movements will narrow the chasm to those at the front of the pack.

Eberechi Eze’s career at Crystal Palace so far

Palace signed Eze from Queens Park Rangers in 2020 for a fee of £20 million after the young midfielder attracted attention with his top-class performances in the Championship.

In 121 appearances for the Selhurst Park side, Eze has scored 23 goals and provided 16 assists, with an upturn in his clinical performance clearly evident following his recent progress.

The midfielder has been hit by injuries more than once. His severely disrupted 2021/22 season likely impacted last year’s successes, where he failed to find a lasting improvement in performance until the end. From that point on, in fairness, he blossomed and showed what can be achieved when he is at the top of his game.

In fact, with six goals and an assist in the last nine top-flight games of the 2022/23 season, Eze has laid the foundation for his talent to flourish this year, where he has been the linchpin of Crystal Palace’s attacking efforts by Glasner’s successor to Roy Hodgson in February, two months ago.

Take a look at the table. It’s a sophisticated and versatile skill set with innate tenacity and ever-improving productivity in key attacking phases that makes Eze a true star in the making, a quality star that Tottenham would win.

His goalscoring prowess has been something to marvel at this season; His surgical flow of creativity demonstrates selflessness and a desire to develop his peers.

Eze was described by coach Paul Hall as “magical to watch” as he held the ball at his feet and danced as a youngster. This boyish greed has remained inherent in Eze’s style to this day, he is carefree and unpredictable in his movements and forced to act as his side’s showman.

Tottenham would only improve if Eze was there. Postecoglou must ensure that all stops are pulled to secure his signature.

How Eberechi Eze would fit in at Spurs

Eze’s penchant for scoring goals of the spectacular variety makes him an instant crowd favorite and Spurs could make good use of that quality as they prepare for a return to European football next season.

According to FBref, the star, who earns £100,000 a week, was in the top 15% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues last year for goals scored, top 5% for shots scored and Top 16% in successful shot-ons per 90, highlighting his threat in the final third and ball-handling ability to capitalize on such windows of opportunity.

As an attacking midfielder, Eze would likely compete with James Maddison for the starting spot at number 10, but his tactical versatility suggests he could be used in a range of roles. Nevertheless, under Postecoglou he could even surpass his playing compatriot in terms of suitability.

Maddison is the locus of Tottenham’s creativity, having signed for £40m from Leicester City last year, winning the Premier League’s Player of the Month award in August and producing great results before an ankle injury disrupted his and Tottenham’s flow in November . This language competence has probably still not been recovered.

Still, Maddison is one of the division’s best ball-playing stars and was in the top 8% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues in assists, top 6% in passes attempted and top 1% last year the attempted passes, shot-creating actions and progressive passes per 90.

Eze’s impressive success at a club like Crystal Palace suggests he could be the main man at Tottenham, and while Maddison is indeed creatively superior, he averages 2.5 key passes per game in the Premier League nine big chances and placed seven assists in 22. As a Lilywhite, the Eagles star doesn’t exactly play badly in this regard.

Eze is without question one of the Premier League’s best players playing under a team chasing European football and Tottenham could make a blinder move by moving him across London to the N17.