It was obviously to everyone and anyone who watched Tottenham Hotspur’s final few weeks of last season that they needed extra strength in depth to compete for the Premier League title, especially in the holding midfielder department.

So it comes as no surprise that Mauricio Pochettino is about to be reunited with Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama at White Hart Lane.

The defensive middleman is reportedly going to cost Spurs £11m from Southampton. That’s a pretty small fee for a proven performer in the Premier League but it should be noted that the player himself seems desperate to leave for London and only has a year left on his contract. Even still, Daniel Levy will be delighted to sign a player for half the fee he would’ve had to pay for him last summer.

At twenty-four years of age, Victor has still to hit his prime. But he’s already proven himself as a strong and consistent competitor.

Spurs seemed to lack a proper steely presence in the midfield during the title run-in, especially after the suspensions of Dele Alli and Moussa Dembele came into play. Wanayam will add strength and will help to shore things up as he patrols in front of the defence.

After Dembele’s suspension, Ryan Mason was selected in the holding role beside Eric Dier. Unfortunately for Mason he often looked out of his depth and didn’t convince you he was a capable defensive midfielder.

It is a position Wanyama knows extremely well and made his own at Celtic and then at Southampton.

He is definitely more aggressive than someone like Mason, he gets around the grass and isn’t afraid to put in a tackle. Last season he received three red cards and four yellows. That amount of reds isn’t great but he hadn’t picked up a red card in the three seasons before last term.

Wanyama often goes through a season with an 80% or higher passing success rate and we all know that Pochettino likes his players to keep the ball. The Kenyan doesn’t get ambitious with it and won’t provide numerous assists but he knows his role and will just pass it on to a player more capable of providing his side with some creative magic. He’s also not prolific in front of goal but will usually chip in with a goal or two a season.

When I think of Victor Wanyama I often think back to Celtic matches against Barcelona in the Champions League during the 2012-13 season. He gave a disciplined performance throughout both ties and worked tirelessly to protect his defence from Barca’s continued onslaughts. The then twenty year old midfielder even managed to get on the scoresheet with a header doing Celtic’s 2-1 win over the Catalan giants at Celtic Park.

His experience in the Champions League could be vital as Tottenham make a return to that illustrious competition this up and coming season.

Wanyama is also strong in the air which is advantageous both when attacking and defending set-pieces.

Obviously Pochettino took him to Southampton and knows what he can do.

A lot of Spurs fans will view him as a squad player but I doubt he’ll be joining the club with that as being his ultimate goal. He is an ambitious, determined type who always proves himself at every club he’s been at and at every level.

When he gets his chance I expect him to impress in a Tottenham Hotspur jersey and the fans to be surprised by the amount of tackles he wins and interceptions he’ll come away with.

A strong first signing of the summer for Tottenham, Pochettino and Levy.

As N’Golo Kante proved last season, it’s not just the big buys that helps you win trophies.

Posted on June 20th, 2016 by scott
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