Berahino v Rodriguez: Would West Brom or Southampton striker be best for Tottenham?

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Should Tottenham be better off trying to sign Saido Berahino or Jay Rodriguez?

Tottenham are linked with signing a new striker every week, which says everything about the lack of depth and quality in their current squad.

Young striker Harry Kane has put established strikers Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado in the shade, but it is likely one could move on, and a new forward brought in.

Two names regularly linked are West Brom sensation Saido Berahino, and Southampton forward Jay Rodriguez, two players who are future England internationals.

Berahino has been in impressive form this campaign, while Rodriguez has been out with injury, but is hoping to return later this month or the next.

We have compared the two strikers’ seasons, Berahino’s 2014/15 so far, and Rodriguez’s 2013/14 prior to his injury.

It’s Berahino who comes out on top in a number of areas. He outranks Rodriguez on a goals per game basis, on target shooting accuracy, and pass accuracy.

Berahino does not have any assists to his name, but creates more chances per game than Rodriguez does, the difference has just been in the quality of teammates.

Rodriguez’s key advantage comes in his aerial ability, winning 1.18 aerial duels per game in comparison to Berahino’s 0.3. This is not necessarily a sign Tottenham should sign him however.

This season, Spurs have the third worst crossing accuracy, ranking 18 of 20 teams, failing to get the best out of Roberto Soldado, a player with quality in the air.

Despite head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s past success with Rodriguez at Southampton, Spurs’ team may just be better set up to get the best out of Berahino.

The players would cost a similar amount, in the £15 million range, and Berahino, looking at the comparative figures, suggest he would be the better buy.