Brais Mendez could reportedly replace Christian Eriksen at Premier League strugglers Spurs – despite his poor La Liga displays for Celta Vigo.
Exactly a year ago, Brais Mendez appeared to have announced himself as Spain’s next rising star.
After ripping La Liga defences apart in the light blue of Celta Vigo, the skilful winger was rewarded with a first ever cap for the Spanish national team during the November international break.
And what an impact he made. One game, one goal; Mendez marked his arrival on the European stage with the winner against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Few would have expected then that Mendez, 12 months on, would have failed to add to his one and only international cap.
But despite claims from 90Min that he is one of the players in contention to succeed Christian Eriksen at Tottenham Hotspur, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the 22-year-old’s rapid rise has been followed by a rather worrying fall.
In 13 La Liga games, Mendez has failed to produce a single goal or assist this season with Celta toiling at the wrong end of the table. Only seven of those appearances have been starts by the way.
What’s that sound? It’s the shrill din of alarm bells ringing.
To make matters worse, Mendez has been overshadowed at the Balaidos by a man who flopped so spectacularly in North London that, one day, making an ill-fated, mid-season loan signing will be called ‘doing a Denis Suarez’.
The phrase ‘best of a bad bunch’ comes to mind but Suarez has shown a few moments of real class in a Celta shirt, rebuilding his reputation after those 67 forgettable minutes at Arsenal. He’s made Mendez look positively ordinary along the way.
So he’ll need to have one hell of a festive period if Tottenham are to come calling.
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