There are certainly worse ways to endear yourself to Tottenham Hotspur supporters.
However, while Daichi Kamada may have left an impression on Spurs fans with a deadly brace at the Emirates in the 2019/20 Europa League group stages, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Japan international made himself strangely popular with the more cynical members of a long-suffering Arsenal fanbase too.
Kamada’s clinical second-half performance at the Emirates turned a 1-0 deficit into a famous 2-1 win for Frankfurt.
But, in the eyes of many of a red-and-white persuasion, that era-ending defeat was the definition of the phrase ‘necessary evil’.
Less than 24 hours later the unpopular Unai Emery was gone, put out of his misery as Kamada hammered the final nail in his Gunners coffin.
And with BILD reporting Tottenham are weighing up a £26 million summer bid for Kamada, Arsenal’s north London neighbours will hope the 24-year-old’s match-winning display at the Emirates 18 months ago is a sign of things to come.
The two goals he scored that night were classic Kamada.
For the first, he squirmed away from a couple of tackles before bending in a brilliant shot from the edge of the box. The second was arguably better, drilled home with his other foot from 20 yards.
The underlying numbers are impressive too.
During his debut season at Frankfurt, Kamada mustered ten goals and nine assists.
He may have only found the net five times in 2020/21 but set up 15 for his teammates. It’s tempting to wonder whether the savvy little playmaker could be the roving number ten Tottenham need.
An intelligent link-man capable of creating a steady stream of chances for Harry Kane – if he stays, of course – while allowing Tanguy Ndombele and Gio Lo Celso to dictate things from deep.
The high-profile struggles of Shinji Kagawa and Takumi Minamino in England mean Kamada will have a point to prove if he does make that £26 million move to Tottenham.
But, as he showed during the final night of the Unai Emery era, Kamada can be deadly when given the time and space to wreak his intuitive brand of havoc.
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