Tottenham Hotspur is gearing up for a significant transfer window this summer as Daniel Levy and his team aim to secure key players for Ange Postecoglou’s promising project. Last season, Postecoglou led the team back to European football, but a late-season slump landed them in the Europa League instead of the Champions League. To take the next step, the North London club needs to make quality signings in the coming months, and recent reports suggest that they might succeed.
The latest player linked to a move to Tottenham is an exciting winger who could increase the team’s goal tally and provide competition for Brennan Johnson in the starting lineup.
According to Caught Offside, Tottenham is interested in signing Juventus and Italy star Federico Chiesa this summer. Chiesa, whose £150k-per-week contract expires next summer, has reportedly received a €6m-per-year offer from Juventus, which Tottenham has matched, translating to around £5m. However, Chiesa is seeking a wage closer to €8m-per-year, or £7m, and it is believed that it would cost Tottenham around £25m to secure his release from Juventus a year early.
While it may be a complex deal, Chiesa’s quality makes it a worthwhile pursuit, especially since he could provide strong competition for Johnson.
Comparing Chiesa to Johnson, Chiesa would likely play on the right of a front three, a position he has often occupied in his career. Last season, Johnson scored five goals and provided ten assists in 38 matches, averaging a goal involvement every 2.53 games. In contrast, Chiesa scored ten goals and provided three assists in 37 appearances, averaging a goal involvement every 2.84 games.
Despite Johnson’s higher non-penalty expected goals and assists, more actual assists, higher passing accuracy, and more goal-creating actions, Chiesa excels in non-penalty goals, progressive passes and carries, shots, shots on target, key passes, and shot-creating actions per 90 minutes.
If Chiesa is available for the reported fee, Tottenham should not miss the opportunity to sign him. Although he may not be significantly better than Johnson, his talent could push the other wingers in the team to improve or eventually replace them.
