Victor Wanyama is a No-Brainer For Spurs
Last month, Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged that in light of Spurs’ extra commitments in the Champions League next season, the North London club’s days of making do with a skeletal-thin squad were long gone.
Specifically, he declared, Tottenham would require at least two high-grade options in every position, in order to cope with the increased demands.
To bring the quality quota up, then, the prospect of seeing a number of new recruits arrive at Spurs this summer is almost guaranteed. Whether that takes the shape of an exotic-sounding import from the Eredivisie or a promotion from within the academy, the message is clear: Spurs can’t wing it again this season.
‘Our challenge is to continue as we have done and the Champions League demands a lot of energy’, Pochettino told the Evening Standard in May, when our position in Europe’s elite club competition was secure.
If that’s the objective, it looks as if the club have made a handy start to the squad building process, with the imminent £11m signing of Victor Wanyama.
The belief, we can assume, is that the Kenyan will compete with International Free-Kick Specialist, Eric Dier, for that all-important anchoring midfield role. Or, in those more physically challenging encounters, when the game needs shutting down, they may well act as cohorts.
Nothing says closed shop like a pairing of Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama. No, ma’am.
So, what do we know about the former Celtic star? Well, he’s a fan of spaghetti, that much we can be sure of. The clue arrived in May 2012, when he announced to his amassing Twitter followers, that, indeed, he’d just had some spaghetti and it was going down very nicely indeed, thank-you-very-much.
Exhibit A:
Aside from that culinary bombshell, Wanyama perhaps made his first major crater in the footballing landscape, when Celtic beat Barcelona in a Champions League group game in November 2012.
As well as springing above Jordi Alba to head home the Glaswegian’s opener, the then 21-year-old wreaked havoc in the thick of the Catalan’s famous, trophy-hoovering midfield. Pace, power and no lack of positional intelligence; it was enough to make Rod Stewart cry.
Since his move to Southampton in July 2013, Wanyama has been one of the South-coasters most consistent performers. While the club were made to endure two summers of upheaval and player exodus, the Kenyan has remained and developed into an elite-level defensive midfielder. He’s not short of technical ability either, as this wonderful, Vine-ready piece of footage will demonstrate.
There are concerns, however. Last August, when it became clear that Wanyama wanted out of St. Mary’s, Ronald Koeman spoke of his prized asset not being mentally fit to play while uncertainties about his future lingered. He was subsequently dropped for Southampton’s 3-0 win over Norwich and doubts over his attitude persist.
This, of course, has become a worrying trend amongst want-away stars. Spurs themselves have been on the blunt end of modern player power in recent years; Luka Modric and Dimitar Berbatov were both deemed too emotionally fragile to focus on their day jobs while bigger clubs lurked in plain sight.
The other issue for Wanyama is his appalling disciplinary record. Just the three early dismissals last season; one of those, a straight red card for attempting to atomise the thigh-bone of Dimitri Payet. Which is just not on.
Still, with the asking price set so artificially low— due to his contract at Southampton nearing its winter— the deal represents a fairly low-risk venture; despite any worries that he’d down tools the second Real Madrid expressed even a vague interest. It’s a bargain, in fact.
So, you know— yay!
