TOTTENHAM: Edmond Tapsoba is a massive Lenglet upgrade- Splash soccer news
The Bayer Leverkusen defender is a “monster”…
Tottenham Hotspur need defensive reinforcements this summer and might have unearthed a superlative new option in Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba.
What’s the latest on Edmond Tapsoba to Tottenham?
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, who has stated that the centre-back is on Spurs owner Daniel Levy’s radar as the club look to recraft their defence.
Valued at a staggering £61m by his German Bundesliga outfit, Tapsoba has been integral for Leverkusen since signing from Portuguese top-flight side Vitoria Guimaraes in 2020.
While Romano confirmed that ‘nothing is advanced’, the Burkina Faso international is said to be keen on moving to the Lilywhites, who have held an interest in the defender for a long time.
Should Tottenham sign Edmond Tapsoba?
In what tantalised promise at the season’s inception, Tottenham’s year disintegrated like a smouldering log as the term dragged on, with a premature exit from the Champions League preceding chastening Carabao Cup and FA Cup defeats to Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United respectively.
The promise of a top four finish once again also faded away, with the dismissal of Antonio Conte failing to spark a late-season purple patch, and the Lilywhites floundered to an eighth-place Premier League finish and the concession of European football next year.
This is largely down to the dismal defensive displays, with Spurs’ 63 goals shipped in the top flight the sixth-worst tally in the charts, and Tapsoba would provide a coveted layer of resilience and robustness to the ranks, having been hailed as an “elite ball-carrier” by one tactical analyst and boasting an imposing physique to “bully players” by another.
He would most certainly be an upgrade on Clement Lenglet, who recently concluded his one-year loan deal in north London and has returned to Barcelona, having been at the epicentre of Spurs’ woes and branded a “defensive liability” by journalist Roy Nemer.
The 28-year-old Frenchman recorded an uninspiring average rating of 6.65 in the Premier League, as per Sofascore, and while he completed 87% of his passes, he only averaged 0.7 interceptions and 1.5 tackles per game, also winning 54% of his duels.
These might not seem like the worst statistics in the world, but Lenglet kept just one clean sheet across his 26 matches, indicating that he was sustaining heavy and incessant fire, and clearly did not provide the defensive mettle required.
His showings were a far cry from that of the “monster” Edmond Tapsoba, as he has been dubbed by journalist Antonio Mango, who is listed as a comparable player to Lenglet by statistical site FBref but undoubtedly utilises his skills more efficiently.
Indeed, the £37k-per-week centre-half ranks among the top 15% of positional peers for shot-creating actions, the top 5% for progressive passes, the top 8% for progressive carries and the top 6% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.
Having also recorded a more reputable Sofascore rating of 6.88 in the Bundesliga, the 24-year-old completed 86% of his passes, averaged 1.1 interceptions, 1.5 tackles and three clearances per game, succeeded with 62% of his ground duels and kept seven clean sheets. Those are certainly more-rounded numbers compared to the club’s former loanee.
Evidently, major surgery is vital for Tottenham’s backline, and while he will fetch a pretty penny, Tapsoba must be signed by new boss Ange Postecoglou to return the club to prominence and play an instrumental role in finally gleaning some silverware for the Lilywhites.
