Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur are in need of a central midfielder and a right-back – Preston’s Alan Browne has been playing in both positions this season.
Tottenham Hotspur are in crisis with regards to their midfield options, with Moussa Sissoko’s three months on the sidelines reportedly prompting Jose Mourinho to consider a loan move to bolster the Spurs ranks (Sky Sports News), while right-back has also hardly been their strong point this season.
There is one player currently plying his trade in the Championship who Tottenham should certainly check out with a view to a permanent move – he’s 24 years of age, boasts an impressive goal and assist record, and has played at senior international level.
Furthermore, he has also been compared to one of the most iconic box-to-box midfielders to play in the Premier League in recent years by one of his compatriots, who himself has plenty of English top-flight experience – and on top of that, has also been filling in at right-back, and only has 18 months left on his contract.
Alan Browne has been with Preston North End since January 2014, joining from League of Ireland side Cork City, and has very much flown under the radar despite making quite a name for himself at Deepdale in the last few years.
The Republic of Ireland ace enjoyed a great 2017-18 campaign with the Lilywhites, winning the Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and Goal of the Season awards (Preston website), while last term he weighed in with an impressive 12 goals and five assists in 38 Championship games (Transfermarkt).
Admittedly, this season he has not quite matched the goal tally of last term, but another thing that could interest Tottenham fans is that he has filled in at right-back on five occasions this season, and also taken the captain’s armband, testament to his discipline (Transfermarkt).
Last February, Kevin Kilbane told the Irish Examiner of the nine-times capped ROI man: “His finishing, his technique, everything, is improving year on year. He’s a player who might get to 27 or 28 and we’ll be looking at as a main guy or a leader in our side. That’s what he’s got the ability to do. He’s growing season on season.
“Having seen him so much since he got into the Preston side, I’ve been impressed with how versatile he is. At the moment, he reminds me of Tim Cahill. Tim played where he had to always strive to get better. It sounds unfair when you say it but Tim wasn’t the greatest of footballers. I think Alan is technically better, but what Tim did, every day, he worked unbelievably hard and he had a knack of getting in the penalty area and getting goals.”
With Preston just two points adrift of the Championship playoffs, they would surely do all they can to hang on to Browne, but given his contract is up in 18 months’ time (Transfermarkt), Spurs should certainly start making enquiries while he’s still relatively under the radar.
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