Spurs were tipped to bring Wolfsberger talisman Shon Weissman to the Premier League – could he have filled a Harry Kane shaped void?
The list of strikers linked with a January move to Tottenham Hotspur was long and extensive, ranging from Krzysztof Piatek to Olivier Giroud, Ze Luis to Gabigol.
The absence of Shon Weissman from the gossip columns, however, seemed a little odd. The 24-year-old Israel international can hardly hold a candle to the crocked Harry Kane when it comes to reputation but, in the goalscoring stakes, he is very much the England captain’s equal.
Since being linked with a shock move to North London in the autumn, via 90Min, the Wolfsberger talisman has reacted in pretty much the perfect fashion to being thrown into the limelight – by plundering a truly obscene number of goals.
In 30 games, Weissman has found the net 29 times. And before you all jump to conclusions about the standard of defending in the Austrian Bundesliga, it seems appropriate to mention Weissman’s crucial strikes in Europa League clashes with AS Roma and a Borussia Monchengladbach side who, at the time, were flying high at the top of the German top-flight table.
If you ask Fabian Zerche, the Austrian football expert, Weissman is not a man master of one trade but a jack of most.
“His style of play is not so easy to describe, he has a little bit of everything. He can be quite aggressive, offers very good runs into the channels and is very clinical in front of goal,” Zerche told HITC recently.
“On the other hand, he has no special, outstanding qualities – except his finishing. He is not very tall, nor extremely fast. It’s difficult to compare players but someone who seems quite similar regarding his body type and way of moving could be Alexandre Lacazette.”
With Tottenham looking a side devoid of anything resembling an outlet in the injury-enforced absences of Kane and Heung Min-Son, with Dele Alli and Lucas Moura understandably struggling in a false nine role, perhaps Weissman was a risk worth taking.
Still, the summer transfer window offers another opportunity to right those winter wrongs.
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