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Villarreal Transfer Linked With Tottenham Defender

Juan Foyth is the latest transfer target of Unai Emery, AS reports

Tottenham Hotspur v Ipswich Town - Pre-Season Friendly Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images

HEY LOOK WE’RE FINALLY LINKED WITH A CENTRAL DEFENDER. According to AS, 22 year old CB and sometimes RB Juan Foyth of Tottenham Hotspur is being pursued by Villarreal. The complicating factor of this deal appears to be that Spurs do not wish to part with him permanently, and Villarreal is reluctant to loan him in. The ultimate decision on Tottenham’s end though could rest with Jose Mourinho, who doesn’t seem to rate the player.

The player has less than 1000 Premier League minutes combined in the last two seasons, but he is a right CB (so a substitute for Albiol) and on a per 90 some of his metrics look really impressive. He successfully completes 65% of his tackles, which is good for the 95th percentile in the top five leagues over that time. He is also represents the 100th percentile in terms of possession adjusted tackles won. This aggression does lead to him committing a lot of fouls, but I think he’ll be asked to press far less in our system than he is in Spurs and that should mitigate that concern (78th percentile in successful pressures at Spurs, Pau was in the 34th last season).

I think there’s a good young player here that Spurs have just failed to give opportunities. I would be extremely happy with this signing. At this point, we’ve gotten bargains in our other business so I’m really not even particularly concerned with what it costs. We need a CB, this one isn’t particularly well proven but he’s talented, and under the leadership of Albiol I think he could make a fine addition to our roster.