Spurs eyeing “magic” £51m star who’d be an “incredible” Werner upgrade

It was a campaign of changes for Tottenham Hotspur this season, as new boss Ange Postecoglou had to cope with the loss of Harry Kane and integrate several signings such as James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario and Micky van de Ven at the same time.

The Lilywhites might have missed out on Champions League qualification, but given the wider context, it would be fair to say that the majority of the club’s acquisitions successfully meshed into and improved the team overall.

However, it wasn’t so easy for winter arrival Timo Werner, who, before succumbing to injury, managed a middling return of just two goals and three assists in 14 games.

This mediocre output and his injury has not dissuaded the Lilywhites from extending his move for another year, but following recent reports, the club could opt to sign an upgrade.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from the Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness), Tottenham have maintained their interest in RB Leipzig attacker Dani Olmo ahead of the summer transfer window.

The story claims that, alongside the Lilywhites, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester United are also keen to land the Spaniard, although according to Sport, the player is content with life in Leipzig and would require ‘something exciting’ to tempt him into moving.

Moreover, earlier reports from BILD this year (via Sport Witness) claim that the Bundesliga side won’t sell the former Dinamo Zagreb ace for less than his €60m release clause, which converts to around £51m.

In all, it could be a complicated and rather pricey deal to complete, but with Postecoglou at the helm, there is no reason that a move to N17 and the Premier League couldn’t be the exciting transfer Olmo desires.

How Olmo compares to Werner

So, if Daniel Levy and Co decide to let Werner go and replace him with Olmo, would that be a smart move? In short, yes.

There are a couple of reasons why opting for the Spaniard would be the better choice in this situation. The first is quite simple: his output is significantly better.

In his 25 appearances this year, the “incredible” 26-year-old, as Pep Guardiola described him, scored eight goals and provided five assists. This means he averaged a goal involvement every 1.92 games, which is genuinely quite impressive for a wide player.

In comparison, in his 14 games for Spurs this season, the former Chelsea striker scored two goals and provided three assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 2.8 games. When you include his appearances and goals from the first half of the campaign, that average falls to 3.5 games.

The second reason is that the “magic” Spaniard, as talent scout Jacek Kulig describes him, comes out just as far ahead of his potential competition when comparing their underlying numbers.

For example, he scores more non-penalty goals, produces more progressive passes, takes more shots and shots on target while maintaining a better conversion rate, has a better passing accuracy, produces more shot-creating actions, completes more take-ons and ball recoveries, and even wins more aerial duels, all per 90.

In his defence, the Stuttgart-born forward produces a higher non-penalty expected goal and assists figure, provides more actual assists, and produces more goal-creating action, but that’s it.

Ultimately, while Werner hasn’t been dreadful in North London, he hasn’t been particularly great either, so it would make sense to send him back to Leipzig and sign their far more effective winger in his place, Olmo.