Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira would be a good fit for Everton or Tottenham Hotspur, former Premier League ace Emile Heskey says in an exclusive interview with HITC.
Rarely has a ‘come-and-get-me’ plea been so strikingly lacking in subtlety.
With his £100,000-a-week contract due to expire next summer, and with Juve very much adopting an ‘out with the old, in with the new’ policy under Andrea Pirlo, Khedira certainly hasn’t missed an opportunity to put himself in the shop window.
Speaking to ZDF over the weekend, the 2014 World Cup winner admitted that he would love to test himself in the Premier League before he hangs up his boots.
What’s more, Khedira confirmed that he is still in contact with two of his former Real Madrid bosses – Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho.
And that feels significant, especially as Football Italia report that Ancelotti’s Everton and Mourinho’s Spurs have emerged as potential destinations for a man with Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A titles on his CV.
“I think he’d make a good impact – a former German international. When you’re looking at someone who can give you that energy in midfield, he’s a good tough tackler and he’s got an eye for a goal. Everton could do with someone like that,” former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Heskey explains.
“They have a lot of energy but they don’t really have that composure in midfield apart from James Rodriguez. Having someone like (Khedira) would be good for them.”
Mourinho, meanwhile, has made no secret of his desire to transform Tottenham from ‘nice boys’ and nearly-men into cut-throat champions with Gareth Bale, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Joe Hart and 2020 Europa League champion Sergio Reguilon bringing a title-lifting mentality to a previously callow dressing room.
“(Proven winners) make a massive impact because everyone looks up to them. It gives everyone a lift because it shows where the club is going. It’s nothing but positivity when someone like that comes into the changing room,” Heskey adds.
“He’d fit in (at Tottenham) in the sense of giving you people who understand what it is to win things. Having that within Tottenham would really push them to be title challengers. People at the moment are saying ‘yeah they are at the top but will they fall away’?
“If you bring more and more players like him in, it will give a different mentality.”
Khedira has not kicked a ball at Juventus this season, but his tactical awareness and quality in possession remain undiminished by age.
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