Tim Vickery says that he has his ‘doubts’ about Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur looking to sign Argentina youngster Alejo Véliz this summer.
The South American football expert dived into the style of play of the hard-hitting Rosario Central striker and someone who, as of this moment, ‘doesn’t offer a great deal other than goalscoring’, as he told Sky Sports.
Vickery shared that Alejo Véliz is a ‘towering’ player and also a ‘strapping target man’ whose goalscoring tally is improving over time.
That’s a big reason why Tottenham will be signing the 19-year-old because whilst there is a rawness to his game. They believe in the layers he can add to it over the years.
With a certain Harry Kane at Spurs, there isn’t a better player for the teenager to look up to, but his issue is that, by the time he probably signs for the London club, the England captain won’t be at the club.
Either way, personal terms have been agreed as a deal edges closer and Vickery shared his thoughts on the player from his style of play to what he has been doing in recent times.
“I have to declare a personal interest here,” said Vickery. “I would love for Tottenham to get it right in the transfer window. It has been a hard few years, my friends, it has been a hard few years.
“In the insignificance of my opinion, I have some doubts here. Veliz is a 19-year-old strapping target man. We have seen quite a few out-and-out goalscorers from Argentina come over to English football – none of them made an impact.
“That type of player, who doesn’t offer a great deal apart from goalscoring, coming straight in from South America and from Argentina. That type of Argentine centre-forward has consistently struggled in Premier League football.
“Veliz, maybe I am being harsh on him, I saw plenty of him this year playing for Javier Mascherano’s Argentina U20 side, who really didn’t do well, at all. The side didn’t function. They were a huge disappointment – he scored some goals with some towering headers, that’s what he does best and he can lead the line.
“But I didn’t see enough there to make me think ‘yes, this is a player who is ready for the Premier League’. He scored goals this season in Argentine football and the goal tally is getting better, year by year. But the strength of the Argentine first division is not what it first was.”
Life after Kane
Whether it’s this summer or in 12 months’ time, it feels as though the end of the road for Kane at Tottenham is edging ever closer.
On the one hand, if you are a Spurs supporter, you don’t want him to leave at all. But if he does go, then perhaps it’s better that he joins Bayern Munich rather than a Premier League rival in 12 months.
Plus, there is also talk of Daniel Levy trying to put this buy-back clause in his contract, either way, that might be the best-case scenario for the supporters, rather than watching him life silverware for Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea, for example.
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