Stats – Proof! Milner would be a terrible signing for Spurs this summer

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James Milner is being strongly linked with a summer switch to Tottenham Hotspur.

Several sources have suggested Tottenham Hotspur will look to versatile Manchester City midfielder with Tim Sherwood apparently keen to bring in a middle man who can cover multiple positions.

Milner has never got the best press in English football and he’s not the most entertaining player to watch but he works hard, has plenty of Premier League experience and would be a cost effective alternative to other midfield options.

The key question is whether he’d drastically improve the current Tottenham midfield. We’ve taken a look at five key areas for midfielders to see how he does up against current Tottenham stars.

Goals

Milner is in the group of Spurs midfielders who only have one goal to their name this season so he wouldn’t add any significant direct goal threat to the current side.

Assists

He also wouldn’t add much in the way of assists behind several key players and on the same as the inexperienced Nabil Bentaleb and a player who has been injured for most of the season, Erik Lamela.

Total Tackles

In terms of tackles, he doesn’t really add much in that department either. Not surprising considering he plays for Manchester City, a predominantly passing team but it’s difficult to see how he’d improve the side if he was urged to do a physical or holding job in the midfield.

Accurate Crosses

He could make a little bit of a difference in terms of wide play, as he’s not too far behind Andros Townsend and Aaron Lennon in terms of accurate crosses. However, if he was brought in by Sherwood as a winger, is he really a better option down the left or right than those two plays plus Christian Eriksen? It’s doubtful.

Interceptions

It’s also not very good news for Milner fans when it comes to interceptions because he’s way behind several Tottenham midfielders, including Sandro who has been missing for a large chunk of the season.

Most of the differences can be explained through the fact that Milner hasn’t had much game time this season. He may have made more appearances than some Spurs stars but most of those have been as a sub (14 of them to be precise).

However even taking this into account, it’s difficult to see where he could improve the Tottenham midfield in any aspect.

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