Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy face a big challenge when 'genius' Mousa Dembele waves goodbye to Tottenham

Farewell? | Mousa Dembele is attracting interest from Italy and China
REUTERS
Tom Collomosse1 May 2018

Tottenham supporters have often wondered how their club might replace Harry Kane or Christian Eriksen should chairman Daniel Levy ever be tempted to accept a bid for either of them.

Levy will do everything in his power to ensure those two are around for a while yet but replacing Mousa Dembele may prove just as challenging in the short term.

Dembele never looked fully fit against Watford and was taken off after 63 minutes, due to a twisted ankle which requires assessment.

With only one more season remaining on his contract, and with his 31st birthday approaching, there is every chance that Tottenham will decide to cash in this summer, as there is interest in the player from both Italian and Chinese football.

When Dembele applauded the Spurs supporters just before he was replaced by Victor Wanyama, it crossed the mind that this might have been the last time we saw him in a competitive match for this club.

You can understand the case for selling Dembele. In addition to his ankle problems and his age, he has completed 90 minutes in only 13 of the 28 games he has started this season.

Before the start of this campaign, he admitted that he would have to manage a foot injury for the rest of his playing days. In an eight-year career in the Premier League, he has 12 goals and the same number of assists in 233 matches. While it is true that Eriksen plays further up the pitch than Dembele, his numbers are considerably better: 41 goals and 48 assists in the League alone, and he has played 65 games fewer than Dembele.

Yet mere statistics do not do justice to the contribution Dembele makes when he is at his best. Because when he is fully fit, Dembele is a match for any central midfielder on the planet. He retains possession brilliantly, he can glide past opponents like few of his peers, and he is as tenacious as he is creative.

(Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is often reluctant to praise individuals when speaking to the media yet he describes Dembele as one of only five “genius” players he has worked with in his career. For context, two of the other four are Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho, team-mates at Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.

In January and February, Dembele faced Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus in successive games, and was probably the best player in all of them.

Dembele was below his best in the FA Cup semi-final defeat by United and crucially lost the ball to Paul Pogba in the build-up to United’s equaliser but it was a rare off-day in a vital match.

To replace that level of proven quality, and big-match temperament, in the post-Neymar era would require Tottenham to break their current transfer record — the £42million they paid Ajax to buy Davinson Sanchez last summer — by a considerable amount.

But how do you do that when you are committed to spending the better part of £1billion on a new stadium, and when you already spend far less on transfers and wages than the majority of your rivals?

Tottenham will hope that the answer lies close to home. Before injury derailed his season, Harry Winks was starting to look like one of the best young midfielders in Europe.

He delivered standout displays in the two Champions League matches against Real Madrid and made a highly promising senior debut for England in the win in Lithuania last October.

At that stage, Winks looked nailed on for a place in Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad, possibly even as a member of the starting XI.

Ankle problems have restricted him to only three appearances in 2018 but Winks is hopeful of a return to full training soon — and if he can avoid setbacks, he will expect to be at full pelt in time for the beginning of next term.

Whatever changes to the squad there may be at Tottenham, Watford have grown accustomed to making many more during the Pozzo era.

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

Under their Italian owners, Watford have spent three consecutive campaigns in the top flight and are within touching distance of securing a fourth, despite this result.

Those who criticise the rapid turnover of players and coaching staff at Vicarage Road should remember that bigger clubs — notably Newcastle and Aston Villa — have been relegated during this time.

But there are still problems at Watford, first among them an appalling away record that has produced a single point on the road in the past 11 games, and just one goal since January 2 in the Premier League.

Any coach who can count on Gerard Deulofeu, Troy Deeney, Andre Gray (despite his struggles this season), Richarlison and Abdoulaye Doucoure should be able to improve this situation. Can Javi Gracia do so? And will he get the chance to try?

The Spaniard is the Pozzos’ fourth permanent manager of this stint in the Premier League, and would hope to start next season. A better result in the final away game — at Manchester United next Sunday — would do his prospects no harm at all.

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