Tottenham: N’Koudou latest; no deal for Wijnaldum; hope in chase for German?

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Tottenham Hotspur look increasingly close to securing a third signing of the summer after the Mirror reported that Georges-Kevin N’Koudou will fly into London to complete a medical and discuss personal terms with the club.

Spurs have reportedly agreed a £10.8 million fee with Marseilles for the 21-year-old, who scored five goals in his debut season at the Sted Velodrome last season. Quick, determined, but still a very raw talent, N’Koudou is the kind of player which Mauricio Pochettino loves to work with. He possesses a lot of enthusiasm and willingness to improve, whilst his frightening speed makes him a nightmare for defenders, and would add a uniqueness to the Spurs front line which is currently devoid of any real pace.

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N’Koudou still has a lot of work to do, however. Although he valiantly challenges big defenders for possession, his strength, or lack of, can make him a bit of a soft touch, especially when his touch and close control is still far from perfect. Furthermore, he is still inconsistent in his finishing and crossing, which would make him a slightly frustrating player to have, and difficult to rely on in a title race.

But, N’Koudou is certainly a promising signing for the future, and one which Pochettino will love working with. His commitment to improving saw him break into the first team at Nantes in his first professional season, before doing the same at Marseilles, where he was initially brought in as a future prospect. If he arrives at Spurs, don’t expect him to be happy sitting on the bench.

Whilst a deal for N’Koudou seems to be moving closer, one which is definitely dead is the move for Newcastle midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, who now looks almost certain to join Liverpool. Spurs have deemed that the £27 million price tag for the Dutch midfielder is too expensive, and have decided to look for other options on the attacking midfield market.

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Whilst Wijnaldum would have been a solid signing for Spurs, and certainly added both quality and depth for the Champions League campaign, but the club must be commended for not bowing to Newcastle’s demands and looking elsewhere. The market in England is certainly inflated, and there are plenty of players on the continent of similar quality to Wijnaldum who will be available for a much cheaper price.

He may go to Liverpool, make a great impact and prove to be good value for money, but the money being quoted seems a tad high for Wijnaldum and Tottenham have made a good decision to pull out of the deal.

Whilst a move for Wijnaldum certainly looks like a no go, another move for an attacking midfielder may be resurrected after Borussia Dortmund stated they have no agreement in place to sign their former starlet Mario Goetze back from Bayern Munich.

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Dortmund have said that they will only complete a deal if it is financially feasible, and a transfer of £20 million would be far more than they have spent on anyone else this summer. If Dortmund pull out of the move and Carlo Ancelotti insists that Goetze will not get much playing time at the Allianz, Goetze’s move to Tottenham could well be back on.

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