This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to The Sun, Tottenham are to make West Bromwich Albion’s Nathan Ferguson their number one right-back target to fill the void left by Kieran Trippier.
What’s the story?
With the transfer window just around the corner, the Premier League’s clubs are already planning ahead. Spurs, of course, are no different.
And The Sun is reporting that the team’s scouts are “raving” about 19-year-old Ferguson amid something of a breakthrough season at the Hawthorns. They see him as a potential new recruit on the right side of the defence despite him currently being used at left-back by Slaven Bilic.
Can fill the Trippier void
England international Trippier joined Atletico Madrid in the summer, and Spurs have struggled to find a successor since then. So far this season, there have been no less than four players filling in there, and none of Serge Aurier, Davinson Sanchez, Moussa Sissoko or Kyle Walker-Peters have set the world alight.
Clearly it’s having an effect too, as just five teams have conceded more than the Lilywhites in the league.
The Tottenham crisis deepens even further in the video below…
Between the four, they have just one assist and no goals. Quite frankly, it is one of their weakest positions on the field and is part of the reason why Mauricio Pochettino and co are finding it so hard this term – they have won just one of their last six games in all competitions and currently sit five points behind the top four in the Premier League.
The interest in Ferguson, therefore, makes total sense and would start to solve some of the team’s defensive problems. So far this season, he has averaged 2.6 tackles per game, which is the most of any of his teammates, whilst his 2.1 clearances per match has been bettered by just two Baggies players. He also has the second-most interceptions, as well, with 1.2.
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It is intriguing that Spurs see him as a right-back considering he has played more games at left-back this campaign, but it would make more sense to have him on his favoured foot in the long-term. His versatility, though, is something that they can put to good use if needs be, with Danny Rose and Ben Davies not necessarily looking irreplaceable on the left.
Ferguson’s age means that he could make the right-back position his own for the foreseeable future, and with the reported fee somewhere in the region of £10m, it would not break the bank either.