Tottenham Hotspur have come a long way but they are still lacking the squad depth to win major honours.
Tottenham Hotspur have a starting XI that can compete with any team across Europe. Just ask Real Madrid.
But one look at their bench for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion showed that they do not possess anywhere near the quality of depth that their top-six Premier League rivals have, especially in attack.
Here are three squad players who Spurs need to find an upgrade on, whether in January or next summer.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou
According to BBC Sport, Tottenham spent £9m to bring in Nkoudou from Marseille in August 2016, in the hope that the 22-year-old would be a bargain speed merchant who could add some pace to their forward play.
But it is clear that Nkdouou has not impressed Mauricio Pochettino, who does not even trust the Frenchman as an impact substitute. Nkoudou has never started in the Premier League for Spurs, and appeared only nine times off the bench.
Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha or Watford’s Brazilian Richarlison would both be huge improvements.
Moussa Sissoko
The France international has played a much bigger role for Pochettino than most anticipated this season, after a poor first 12 months at Spurs upon his £30m arrival from Newcastle United – fee reported by Sky Sports. This weekend’s draw with the Baggies was the first Tottenham game in any competition that Sissoko has not featured in.
While his performances have improved from last campaign, Sissoko is still technically deficient and offers very little goalscoring or creative threat from midfield. Ross Barkley from Everton would be a definite step up.
Fernando Llorente
Tottenham were hopeful that they had finally found some decent back-up to Harry Kane when Llorente was brought in from Swansea City on deadline day, for a fee of £14m according to The Guardian – a world record for a 32-year-old.
However, the Spaniard has not even looked like scoring in his 15 appearances, although most of them have been brief, and Spurs have showed very little interest in playing to the aerial strengths of the renowned target man.
Schalke 04 striker Breel Embolo or Red Bull Leipzig’s Timo Werner would provide Kane with genuine competition.
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