Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Konrad Laimer, according to emerging reports…
What’s the word?
German outlet Sport Bild claim the 24-year-old’s performances for RB Leipzig this season have caught the eye of several Premier League teams, including the north Londoners.
It’s thought that the Austria international originally caught the eye of Spurs scouts during their two-legged Champions League clash in 2020 and he has remained on the radar ever since.
Laimer will soon enter the final 12 months of his current contract, though the Bundesliga outfit are keen to tie him down to an extension but that will not happen until the end of the season, and the player himself has left his future open to interpretation.
Bye-bye Winks
You’d imagine that a move for any new midfield option would push Harry Winks even further down the pecking order and it could even lead to his inevitable departure.
He’s currently sat behind winter signing Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp under manager Antonio Conte.
Leeds United reportedly rejected the chance to sign the Englishman on loan during the January transfer window, whilst Football Insider pundit Alan Hutton has urged Winks to leave his boyhood club for the benefit of his career.
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“If he can’t get into that side, he’s got to move on,” he said.
Despite being lauded as a “reliable” option by the Italian head coach, Laimer would be a considerable upgrade and would offer better suitability to the system in north London.
Aside from his passing ability, Winks offers very little to Spurs, whether that’s defensively or in the attack.
As per FBRef, he’s averaged only 1.61 tackles and 1.43 interceptions per 90 throughout the course of his domestic league career at the Lilywhites, which is fewer than that of Laimer (4.8 tackles and interceptions per 90) during his time in Saxony.
Elsewhere, Winks is lacking in the final third, averaging only 0.73 dribbles, 0.74 penalty box entries and 4.69 pressures per 90, leading to a disappointing xG+A of 0.08.
Thus, the £91k-per-week midfielder is effectively just passing the ball sideways and backwards without really getting involved defensively or in the attack either.
By comparison, the £23.4m-rated Laimer – who bagged his fourth and fifth goals of the season at the weekend – is a world apart, averaging 0.2 xG+A, 1.05 penalty box entries, 1.4 successful dribbles and 9.94 pressures per 90 across the course of his Bundesliga career, also via FBRef.
Once as “incredibly aggressive on the ball” by his former boss Adi Hutter and compared to former Conte star N’Golo Kante, Laimer would appear to suit the Italian’s system down to a tee as he expects that sort of energy and work rate in the engine room at all times, especially when there’s just the two players.
‘Dirty work’ could be his middle name, according to Bundesliga.com, and that’s not something you’d associate with Winks, so perhaps this move could see the Spurs boss finally axe the long-serving, struggling academy graduate.
AND in other news, Alasdair Gold drops Sergio Reguilon update…
