Victor Wanyama has been making a name for himself with the Saints since his move from Celtic.
In the past three years at St Mary’s, the Kenya international has become an integral part of the Southampton team that has improved year on year.
The Saints have qualified once again for the Europa League and the 24-year-old played a big part in that success, but he has just a year left on his Southampton contract and has so far refused to sign a new five-year deal.
As a result, Tottenham are once again interested in signing him.
Rated at around £25m last summer, Wanyama’s value may have reduced since then, though the Saints are still likely to make a large profit on the £12.5m they paid to Celtic for the player in 2013. Still young and with scope to improve, signing him makes sense for Spurs, right?
Well we’re not sure, and here are FIVE reasons why…
Eric Dier’s emergence
In short, why buy Wanyama when in Dier, Spurs have a potentially defensive midfielder? Dier is proven in the Premier League within the Tottenham infrastructure and has shown his worth at club and international level.
With a player like Dier, why would you need a player like the Kenyan, who would more often than not, keep the bench warm? Tottenham are short of cover for Dier, but they can surely find a cheaper option?
The Southampton factor
The Saints lost Pochettino to Tottenham, so they will be wary of losing another employee to the same team, and with Levy leading the negotiations, he will play hardball. It will likely end up costing Tottenham dear to take away one of the Saints’ precious jewels.
The Southampton board will be asking near enough £20m, but will Levy want to be pay that much for what would effectively become a second string player?
The Player himself
A long five match ban after being sent off three times last season will cause Spurs to look at the player’s temperament and ask questions. A team challenging for the Premier League and in the Champions League needs cool heads and not the misery of having players sidelined through suspension.
There’s a divide amongst the Saints fans. Most like him, but there are quite a few detractors who suggest that he wants his own way and won’t play to his full if not entirely motivated. The 24-year-old is a very good defensive midfielder, but generally in when going forward he’s one dimensional at best.
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The Risk
Is signing Wanyama worth the risk of Dier becoming stunted in his growth? Would Dier feel the pressure of the Kenyan and how would he react? Wanyama won’t be happy to just watch the first-team, he wants regular football and so will Dier, if he’s to become what many think he could be capable of.
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The Statistics
The numbers show that Wanyama is a better player, statistically, than Dier, but in the Spurs man’s first season in that particular role, the English ace showed real potential, and his ongoing progress is going to be very important to Tottenham.
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