Which of these five Premier League clubs would be the most suitable destination for Celtic’s Moussa Dembele?

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Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs are the club believed to be in pole position to sign the Frenchman, although it is unclear where Dembele would fit into Mauricio Pochettino’s system. Before Erik Lamela’s season-ending hip injury, the Argentine deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation with Harry Kane operating as the central striker, but with his compatriot having been out since October, he has phased in a 3-4-2-1 formation to allow attacking full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose to provide the width, with Eriksen and Alli in free roles behind lone striker Kane.

With Pochettino preferring to play one up front, Dembele’s opportunities at Spurs could be limited. Even with Harry Kane currently on the sidelines with an ankle injury, his current understudy Vincent Janssen has still struggled for minutes, with Pochettino preferring to use Son Heung-Min in the central role.

Though with Janssen the only fit recognised striker currently on the club’s books, the signing of Dembele may well combat Tottenham’s obvious lack of depth, providing that they don’t opt to offload Janssen during the summer after he has failed to make an impression since moving from Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar.

If Pochettino were to stick to his favoured lone striker formation, Dembele may find it tough to dislodge Kane when fit and in-form, but the Frenchman is accustomed to playing as a lone striker, given that Brendan Rodgers currently uses him as the spearhead in front of a midfield five, a role hat he can play out to perfection thanks to his pace, power, strength, technique and technical ability. Whilst at Fulham, he drew comparisons with a name familiar to the Premier League of yesteryear, fellow Frenchman Nicolas Anelka.

The step-up to the Premier League may prove a challenge, but Dembele has more than suggested that he is capable of making the grade following his displays for Fulham in the Championship, and his goal-scoring exploits for Celtic in Europe, including his quite spectacular brace against Manchester City in the Champions League group stages.

Dembele may find it difficult to make such a move if his chances of first-team football remain slim. He left PSG for Fulham despite training regularly with the first-team, because the high-profile recruitment of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ezequiel Lavezzi back then rendered his prospects of regular football slim. It may be, however, that Dembele’s arrival may see the introduction of a two up-front formation at Tottenham, but given how well the team is currently playing with a lone-forward, Pochettino may not want to tinker with his preferred playing style.

Plus, despite excelling regularly for Celtic despite the formation, Dembele has fared better as a lone striker rather than with a forward partner. The Frenchman started up top with Leigh Griffiths in a 1-0 defeat in Champions League qualifying to minnows Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar but has since gone on to excel up front in his own. The decision to play Dembele alone up top is not necessarily due to the forward’s difficulty in playing alongside a partner, but rather the shortfall’s in Celtic’s midfield, which Rodgers prefers to give extra reinforcement. Given the creativity that may also end up behind him at Spurs, with the service of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Son Heung-Min, and the width of Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and possibly Erik Lamela, it is highly likely Dembele would repay Tottenham’s investment with goals.

Dembele’s credentials certainly cut the figure of a forward who would score goals for Spurs and make the step-up to Premier League level if given game-time, but if Spurs’ current style of play is anything to go by, his prospects of regular football may not be tremendously high.