Tottenham Hotspur have been absolutely fantastic this season at both ends of the field, which has put them in a brilliant position to achieve Champions League football.
The managerial signing of Ange Postecoglou is one reason for this, with the Australian changing the approach to a much more exciting style of play.
Another reason is the Lilywhites' fantastic summer recruitment, with the likes of James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario, and Micky van de Ven all becoming key players.
However, the club will want to repeat last season’s transfer success in the upcoming window, and they look set to start with a true number nine.
Spurs’ search for a centre forward
According to an Alasdair Gold report from Football.London, Spurs are interested in signing a number of centre forwards this summer.
Ivan Toney and Santiago Gimenez are on the list, but the player that Postecoglou has a huge interest in is Albert Gudmundsson.
The 26-year-old is receiving plenty of praise for his performances in the Serie A for Genoa, with a fee of up to £26m reportedly being enough to prise him away.
Gold stated: 'Tottenham have shown considerable interest in Genoa's Icelandic international Albert Gudmundsson, along with Inter and Juventus, and the player is expected to be available for a fee between £21.5m and £26m this summer.'
Spurs "monster" who ranks in top 99% for xG could supercharge Maddison
The Spurs star has been on fire this season in the Premier League.
ByTom Lever Spurs could repeat their Kulusevski masterclass
After an excellent loan spell from January 2022 to last summer, where Dejan Kulusevski scored seven goals and provided 15 Premier League assists, Spurs made his deal permanent.
The Swedish winger joined the Lilywhites from Juventus for a bargain price of £25m at the start of the season, and he’s since netted six goals and provided three assists in the league.
Spurs could look to repeat their Kulusevski masterclass by signing another Scandinavian gem who has previously torn the Serie A apart, with Daniel Levy hoping that the Icelandic ace can mirror the quality displayed by the Sweden international and even combine to produce devastating results.
Nonetheless, just like Kulusevski’s first full Serie A campaign, where he scored ten goals and registered nine assists, Gudmundsson has been on fire for a relatively average side that was only promoted this season.
The number 11 has netted ten times and provided three assists in 27 matches this campaign, but it’s his overall game that is so impressive, as displayed via his statistics against Israel for his national team.
Not only did the Icelandic gem pick up the match ball and guide his country to progress, but he was incredible throughout, showing traits that would make him slot perfectly into the Spurs side.
Goals
3
Shots
6
Key passes
3
Successful dribbles
2/3
Pass accuracy
88%
As you can see, the striker isn’t a typical number nine whose game stops at scoring goals, with his two successful dribbles and three key passes showing that he is dynamic, and able to get the best out of those around him, which is very much like club-record scorer Harry Kane.
However, he was also able to keep the ball under pressure, which not only allows the side to get up the field in support but also helps them maintain control, which Postecoglou demands.
With the Spurs boss’ flexible tactics that are fluid, Gudmundsson’s ability to exchange roles with ease due to his well-rounded skillset would make him a brilliant buy, especially as that profile has been prioritised this season via the likes of Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner.
Signing Gudmundsson would be an extremely smart move that doesn’t exactly break the bank, and he could just follow in the footsteps of Kulusevski to become an important player for Tottenham.