Say the name Gedson Fernandes to a Tottenham fan and they’ll probably shudder.
The Portuguese midfielder, with all due respect, was a disaster at Tottenham Hotspur. He signed for the club on loan in 2020 with a view to a £43m permanent deal in the future.
However, Fernandes didn’t look like a £4m player at Spurs, never mind a £43m footballer.
He didn’t start a single league game for Spurs, and when he came off of the bench, he looked lost in the Premier League. His technique wasn’t up to scratch and he was always a beat behind what was going on in the play.
His stats at Spurs tell the story well. He averaged just 0.3 tackles per game, 0.1 interceptions and his pass success rate in Europe was just a tad over 70 per cent. He was poor.
Fernandes’ Spurs loan was cut short last January, and since then he’s had two further loan moves to Turkey, most recently joining Rizespor where he is absolutely smashing it.
Now 23, Fernandes has matured as a player, and while it’s still early days at Rizespor, he’s looking like one of the best players in Turkey.
Indeed, in four games, he’s scored one goal, grabbed one assist and he’s been absolutely dominant in the middle of the park.
He’s averaging 3.3 tackles per game, 11 times as many as he was averaging at Spurs, while his 3.8 dribbles per game is a remarkable upturn from his career average of 1.1.
At Spurs, Fernandes looked completely unsure on the ball. Now, he’s one of the best ball carriers in Turkey, while his tackling stats also show just how brilliant he is off the ball too.
We don’t know what type of work Fernandes has been putting in off the pitch, but he’s seemingly improved 10-fold since leaving Spurs.
Perhaps we haven’t seen the last of this Portuguese midfielder at the top level of European football.
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