Tottenham Hotspur’s Fernando Llorente has impressed in pre-season so far.
Tottenham Hotspur are gearing up for a pre-season friendly with Barcelona tomorrow morning.
Spurs smashed Roma 4-1 earlier this week to get their tour of the United States of to a thrilling start.
Fernando Llorente was on the scoresheet twice that day and if the Spaniard acquits himself well against the Spanish giants then could it actually make Mauricio Pochettino lean toward keeping him?
It was not only the brace which made Llorente stand out against Roma – it was his shape.
The 33-year-old, a £12 million signing last August, looked a fitter and slimmer version of the striker who scored just the one Premier League goal last season and it’s clear that he has benefited from a full pre-season under Pochettino.
He didn’t have that last year after joining from Swansea City late in the window. In fact, he didn’t have much of a pre-season in South Wales either after breaking his arm.
Keeping Llorente seemed an unthinkable prospect just a couple of months ago, but if the former Juventus hitman stars again in the Lilywhites’ clash with Barca then it certainly doesn’t hinder his chances at all.
Pochettino told ESPN after the Roma mauling that he has a “massive opportunity” so time will tell whether he makes the most of it.
It would be very brave to keep him, and may infuriate the fans if the gamble backfires, but Pochettino is an excellent man-manager and if he feels as if the big man – who scored 15 times in the Premier League during the 2016-17 campaign – can come good, then who can say different?
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