Last night was one to forget for Tottenham Hotspur.
Ange Postecoglou’s side had a chance to turn their season around and put a massive dent in Arsenal’s ambitions simultaneously, but ultimately gave up a 1-0 lead to pick up their 11th Premier League defeat of the campaign.
Impressively, it was the youngsters like Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall who put in the best performances for the Lilywhites, while the senior players were painfully ineffective or practically anonymous.
Even goalscorer Son Heung-min was disappointing for the majority of the game, so recent reports linking the club with a potential replacement this month shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Tottenham chase Son successor
According to a recent report from Football Transfers, Tottenham are one of several high-profile clubs interested in signing Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho this month, whose sale is not off the table.
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In fact, the report has revealed that the Lilywhites have ‘set their sights’ on the winger, have made a ‘concrete enquiry’ about his availability and may now be prepared to test the Red Devils’ resolve with a bid in the region of €70m, which is about £59m.
However, fans shouldn’t get too carried away just yet, as the report has also named European giants Napoli and Atlético Madrid as some of the interested parties.
It could be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given Garnacho’s current ability and the potential many believe him to possess, it’s one worth pursuing, especially as Son cannot be relied upon long-term.
How Garnacho compares to Son
Now, the first thing to say is that over the last decade or so, there have been few players as consistently brilliant as Son in the Premier League, and when he does finally hang up his boots or move on, he’ll be rightly remembered as a legend of the league.
With that said, time catches up with us all, and with him set to turn 33 in the summer, the club need to find a long-term replacement and fast, as even though he can still chip in with a goal here and there, most fans will attest to the fact that he’s having less and less impact in games with every passing campaign.
So, with that in mind, how does he stack up against the young Garnacho? From a pure output perspective, it’s a very closely fought affair.
For example, in 26 appearances totalling 1825 minutes this season, the Spurs captain has scored eight goals and provided seven assists for Postecoglou, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.73 games, or every 121.66 minutes.
In contrast, the young Argentine has scored as many goals but provided five assists in 30 appearances, totalling 1641 minutes, so he’s averaging a goal involvement every 2.30 games, or every 126.23 minutes.
So, with there being little to separate the pair with their output, how do they stack up against one another when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers?
Interestingly, while the South Korean international comes out ahead in a number of metrics, such as progressive passes, shot and goal-creating actions, passing accuracy and key passes per 90, he comes out second-best overall.
For example, the “dangerous” United gem, as dubbed by Paul Scholes, does better in a multitude of offensive metrics such as non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots and shots on target and carries into the penalty area per 90, but also does significantly better for the defensive ones as well.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.57
0.61
Actual Non-Penalty G+As
0.71
0.69
Progressive Passes
1.99
4.75
Progressive Passes Received
12.8
11.3
Progressive Carries
5.70
3.95
Shots
3.72
2.23
Shots on Target
1.48
1.09
Passing Accuracy
77.6%
81.3%
Key Passes
1.46
2.09
Shot-Creating Actions
3.11
4.57
Goal-Creating Actions
0.27
0.56
Tackles
1.19
0.56
Tackles Won
0.87
0.40
Blocks
0.73
0.34
Interceptions
0.77
0.25
Clearances
0.53
0.68
Carries
35.4
32.8
Carries into the Penalty Area
3.05
1.58
Ball Recoveries
4.64
3.62
Aerial Duels Won
0.13
0.11
Not only does he make and win more tackles, but he wins more aerial duels, completes more ball recoveries and makes more interceptions and blocks, also all per 90.
What makes this even more impressive is the fact that he’s so young and has years to go until he reaches his peak, which for a wide attacker is about 26, according to research carried out by The Athletic in 2021.
Ultimately, Son is a bonafide legend, but he is nearing the end of his top-flight career, and Spurs need to find a dynamic and potentially game-changing replacement, which by all accounts may well be Garnacho.
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