Forget Eze: Spurs already have their eye on a thrilling £47.5m alternative
Arsenal are set to spoil Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer bid for Eberechi Eze - but Spurs may have a perfect back-up plan in mind.
Just 24 hours ago, everything seemed to be falling into place for Tottenham Hotspur. Fresh off the back of a resounding 3-0 win over Burnley on the opening day of the Premier League season, it looked for all the world as though they were going to get to sign Eberechi Eze as well. Until, quite suddenly, he was off to Arsenal instead.
It’s hard to blame Eze, who was in Arsenal’s academy until the age of 13 and supported the club as a boy, but that won’t make it any easier for Spurs to swallow. A supremely talented playmaker that seemed to be within their reach is now heading to their fierce rival instead. That’s the sort of thing that spoils a fan’s day.
Still, Spurs must press on despite the likelihood that their primary transfer target now heads elsewhere – and according to a report from The Guardian, they already have a Plan B in mind…
Why Maghnes Akliouche could help Spurs fans move on from Eberechi Eze
In truth, Spurs’ apparent plans to sign AS Monaco winger Maghnes Akliouche were concocted less in response to Eze’s about-face than because of the rapidly dwindling chances that they sign Manchester City’s Savinho – but that doesn’t mean that Akliouche wouldn’t be able to fill the hole that Eze would have occupied.
While a wide player first and foremost, Akiouche – much like Eze – tends to operate in the channels between the widest areas and the centre of the pitch, looking for half-spaces and attacking defenders both inside and outside. He’s also, rather like Eze, a tremendous creative force.
The 23-year-old provided 10 assists in Ligue 1 last season, already more than Eze has ever managed in a single campaign, and added five goals on top. He created shooting opportunities for his team-mates at much the same rate as Eze, and perhaps has a more expansive game.
While Eze is perhaps a better technician, especially when allowed to attack a defender one-on-one, Akliouche is a more precise passer with a broader range who gets more balls into dangerous areas, all while completing more dribbles downfield and getting more touches in the penalty area.
Eze scores more, granted – the England man has reached double digits in the league in two of the past three seasons while Akliouche has 13 goals in total since he broke into the Monaco first-team in earnest towards the end of the 2022/23 campaign, including a strike against Le Havre on the opening weekend of the current campaign and a glorious bicycle kick against Stade Rennais – but Akliouche may be even better as a provider, all while being younger and having more room to develop.
Eze, at 27, is likely at the peak of his powers already. Akliouche, four years his junior, is already producing at the very top level at a point in his career at which Eze was just starting to impress in the Championship with QPR. The Frenchman, who has represented his country at the Paris Olympics and at Under-21 level, is likely better than Eze was at the same age, and in many aspects of the game is better than the Crystal Palace midfielder is now.
Is Akliouche what Spurs really need – and will they sign him?
The biggest query over whether Akliouche is really the right signing in place of Eze isn’t related to his technical qualities but to his positional role. Where Eze can operate either as a number ten or on the left, Akliouche is largely committed to playing as a right winger and hasn’t seen extensive use in other positions.
Playing on the right wing would allow Mohammed Kudus to shift back to the left (the Ghanian was on the right against Burnley) or perhaps to play as a number ten, depending on how Thomas Frank intends to set his side up – with James Maddison out for the long haul with an ACL injury, they could well continue to play with the 4-3-3 system in use at the weekend which ignored a number ten altogether.
In that case, a winger is what’s required and Akliouche makes perfect sense as an alternative to both Eze and Savinho. If Frank would prefer to operate within a 4-2-3-1 framework, however, he would become heavily reliant on Kudus’ form and fitness, especially with Dejan Kulusevski also stuck on the sidelines for a little while longer.
Of course, given his passing quality, it’s possible that Akliouche could, like Kulusevski, prove to be useful in a more central role as well – but with his knack for finding and exploiting space out wide and the fact that he isn’t quite as comfortable in tight spaces, it seems likely that he would make a more natural winger in the long run.
None of which is to say that signing Akliouche would preclude them from signing another attacking midfielder, of course, especially given that The Guardian report Monaco’s likely asking price to be £47.5m – less than the fees that either Eze or Savinho would have commanded.
There are, as it stands, no confirmed reports suggesting that Spurs have made a formal offer, but with another strong source reporting the story in The Independent, it seems probable that the interest is sincere. Whether that develops into a formal offer remains to be seen. At least this time, it’s unlikely that Arsenal show up to spoil the party.