Why William Carvalho Would Be A Dream Signing For Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur are planning to make a move for Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder William Carvalho, according to reports from Portuguese newspaper A Bola. The report claims that the North London outfit are willing to make an offer in the range of €30million, before adding that the likes of Manchester City, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion are also interested.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have been fairly quiet in the transfer market this summer, with the only big news coming from the club is the sale of defender Kyle Walker for a fee of £50million. Having been so close to winning the Premier League title in the past two years, it is time for Spurs to go a step further this time around, in order to retain their best players. Pochettino will also be keen on improving the club’s fortunes in Europe, after a poor campaign on the continental stages last time around.
There are no questions that Tottenham have a well-oiled, quality first-team that hardly requires any improvement. However, the same cannot be said about the rest of their squad. The lack of quality options on the bench was fairly evident last season and when you want to win titles, you need to have a strong squad that you can rotate over the course of the season.
This is where William Carvalho could turn out be a shrewd signing for Tottenham. The 25-year old has established himself as one of the most promising defensive midfielders in Europe in recent years and has been strongly linked with a move to the Premier League for a while now.
The Sporting Lisbon midfield enforcer, a product of the club’s youth academy, has established himself as a key member of the first-team in the past four seasons and has gone on to rack up over 150 appearances for the club. Last term, Carvalho finished with 2 goals and 4 assists from 43 games in all competitions.
A full international for the Portugal team as well, Carvalho has made 37 appearances for the Seleccao and was a part of the team that won the UEFA Euro 2016 last year and finished third in the FIFA Confederations Cup last month.
A strong and powerful midfielder, the Portuguese international excels in a defensive midfielder role, sitting in front of the back four and offering steel and solidity to the midfield areas. A strong tackler and a good reader of the game, Carvalho brings the added tenacity to the midfield and has the necessary mettle to stop attacks before they develop.
Along with the defensive nous, the midfielder also brings along his excellent passing and wide range of distribution with him, and has shown that he can dribble his way past the opponents as well, from the midfield. Last season, he averaged a brilliant 88.3% passing accuracy and enjoyed an 80% success on his 60 attempted dribbles in all competitions. It just goes on to show that he can sit deep and defend, provide the drive going forward, and also the running from the middle of the park if need be.
In Pochettino’s system at Tottenham, the two midfield spots are occupied by Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama. The two have forged an excellent partnership in the centre of the pitch. With Eric Dier and Harry Winks available as backups, there seems to be enough cover for those positions as well.
However, with question marks over Dier’s future, as he continues to be linked with a move away to Manchester United, bringing in a new player for the position wouldn’t be the worst option for Tottenham. And even if Dier does stay put in North London, he will most likely be used in a centre-back role in Pochettino’s three-man backline, and with Winks very much in a developmental phase, Tottenham could do with added cover in midfield.
In Carvalho, they will be getting their hands on a proven performer with great ability and at just 25, he still has a long way to go. He will be able to operate as the shield in place of Wanyama, while he will also be able to play as the box-to-box role similar to Dembele. Signing the Portugal international will strengthen Tottenham’s roster significantly and they should act quick to beat the other interested parties for his transfer.
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