Spurs favourites to land £60m “entertainer” who’s like Phil Foden

Tottenham Hotspur are back in preseason and, having signed the incredibly exciting Archie Gray a few of weeks ago, are a couple of steps ahead of some of their rivals at the moment.

However, with less than a month to go until the Premier League kicks off, a lot can change, and if Daniel Levy wants to give Ange Postecoglou the best chance of success, he needs to bring in even more reinforcements, specifically in attack.

Fortunately, recent reports suggest that is likely to happen, as the latest star touted for a move to N17 is one of the most entertaining players in the league and has even been compared to Phil Foden.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from journalist Steve Kay via KS1TV, Tottenham have maintained a strong interest in Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze.

Kay claims that several other teams are interested in the Englishman, including North London rivals Arsenal, but the Lillywhites are “ahead” in the race for his signature at the moment.

The former Queens Park Rangers ace’s release clause is £60m, but Kay does not expect that to be a problem for Levy and Co.

It would still represent a hefty investment from the club, but given his performances last season and the complimentary comparison to Foden, it is one worth making.

How Eze compares to Phil Foden

Now, the first thing to address here is the comparison to Foden, which can be divided into two parts.

The first is that, like the Manchester City ace, Eze is a dynamic attacker who can play out wide on the wings and in attacking midfield. Last season, he made nine starts in the former positions and 17 in the latter for Palace, while the City ace made 31 out wide and 15 as the club’s ten last year.

The second, and more meaty, comparison between the two stems from FBref, who compare players in the Premier League and then create a list of the ten most comparable players for each one. In this case, they concluded that the Stockport-born dynamo is the third most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the 26-year-old.

The best way to see how FBref came to this conclusion is by looking at how closely the pair rank in a multitude of important underlying metrics, including non-penalty expected goals and assists, progressive carries, shots on target, key passes and carries into the penalty area, all per 90.

However, while the comparison to the Premier League winner is certainly flattering, it’s not the sole reason Spurs should sign the Palace “entertainer,” as data analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed him; you only need to look at his form last season to find out the main reason he’s worth £60m.

In 31 appearances for the Eagles, he scored 11 goals and provided six assists, which equates to an impressive average of a goal involvement every 1.82 games.

If he can do that in a Palace side that only really kicked into gear following the appointment of Oliver Glasner, think of what he’d be able to do under Postecoglou.

Ultimately, while it’s undoubtedly a sizeable fee, his incredible displays in 2023/24 and complimentary comparison to Foden should be all the encouragement Spurs need that Eze would be an exceptional signing.