Robbie Keane has told Premier League Productions that Tottenham need a midfielder like Leicester City ace Youri Tielemans. The Belgian’s long-term future is in doubt, with Arsenal among the clubs reportedly interested.
Tottenham suffered a 2-0 defeat to Wolves on Sunday, despite Rodrigo Bentancur starting his first match for Spurs since joining the club from Juventus. Raul Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker scored the goals.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old Tielemans is out of contract at Leicester in the summer of 2023. Premier League clubs are interested, with 90Min claiming Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham and Manchester United are keen.
The report says Leicester might request a fee in the region of £40million for the Belgium international. Ex-Tottenham man Keane believes Tottenham need a player like Tielemans in the middle of the park under Antonio Conte.
“Defensively, they’re poor. They need to bring in a couple of players there. We spoke about Tielemans, a midfield player, they could do with someone like him in the middle of the park who is going to dominate possession.”
Keane on Tielemans: Belgium ace would be big signing for Tottenham
That is, despite the addition of Bentancur. Spurs currently boast Bentancur, along with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp. All are renowned for their defensive qualities, but little going forward.
In 51 appearances for Spurs, Skipp has not scored and only laid on two assists. Winks is improving as a playmaker, but still only has five goals and six assists in 104 games. Hojbjerg has five and eight in 84 games.
Tielemans would be ideal in Tottenham’s system, given his deep-lying playmaker abilities – combined with his tenacity as a holding midfielder. At Leicester, he has had a hand in 46 goals in 136 games. £40million is a snip.
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