Three signings Tottenham should make before the end of the summer

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Yunus Malli

The Spurs midfield bested many of England’s finest last season; Mousa Dembele a magnificent metronome and Eric Dier an impassable rock. The signing of Victor Wanyama shows Poch’s commitment to his midfield pivot, the Kenyan providing direct competition for Dier’s destroyer role. However, despite the Spurs reserves being cluttered with midfield options, there remains little competition for Dembele’s spot. Mason is not of requisite Champions League quality while Bentaleb and Carroll don’t seem to be in Poch’s plans. To compete on all fronts, Spurs need a forward thinking midfielder to challenge Dembele and offer a bit of spark from deep.

Yunus Malli, Mainz’s Turkish international, is the man to bolster Lilywhite midfield depth. Although a natural attacking midfielder, Malli is adept at playing deeper on the pitch. Poch enjoys playing forward thinking players in withdrawn positions; Dembele, a number 10 at Fulham, the ultimate example. However, Malli won’t fulfill an identical role to his Belgian counterpart. Playing Dembele as a regista harnesses his passing range and trickery, traits that were on show in his days at Craven Cottage. Malli’s greatest asset is his goalscoring nous, he netted 11 league goals last season, something that would be suppressed if he were to be shoehorned into Dembele’s exact role. Instead Malli would play with a bit more attacking freedom, complete with trademark late runs into the box.

He would offer more cutting edge going forward than Spurs’ other center-midfield options, something imperative against defensive sides who have grown wise to Poch’s pressing game. Although the 24-year-old would have to improve the defensive side of his game to demand automatic selection, his skill-set would prove useful against inferior sides if not European heavy-weights.