Things might have gone awry this season, but the plan at Tottenham Hotspur is clear.
Daniel Levy and Co want to improve the team but have decided to build for the future and focus on young and up-and-coming talents in recent transfer windows to do so.
For example, last winter, the club signed Lucas Bergvall from Swedish side Djurgårdens for around £8.5m and then in the summer, they picked up Archie Gray from Leeds United for £30m and Wilson Odobert from Burnley for around £25m.
They will continue using this approach this summer, as recent reports have linked the club with an incredibly exciting young player who has been compared to Lamine Yamal.
Spurs looking at signing "future Ballon d'Or winner"
We may still be a couple of months away from the transfer window officially opening, but that has not stopped Spurs from being linked with several young and exciting talents.
Perhaps one of the most consistent links has been to Southampton’s Tyler Dibling, who has been valued at around £55m but could potentially be available for less when the Saints are inevitably relegated at the end of the season.
Another young Englishman who has been touted for a £38m move to N17 has been Sunderland’s 17-year-old sensation Chris Rigg, who has thrived this season, scoring four goals and providing one assist in 37 appearances, most of which have come in midfield.
Yet, at least so far, the most exciting link of the lot is to a 21-year-old winger who has been seriously impressing in France this year: Rayan Cherki.
According to a recent report from journalist Graeme Bailey, Spurs are one of several teams incredibly interested in the Lyon ace.
In fact, alongside Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Newcastle United, the Lilywhites have already made contact and asked ‘to be kept informed about’ the star’s situation.
However, while the level of competition is far from ideal, the good news is that, according to the story, there is an agreement between the club and the player that he’ll be allowed to leave for less than £25m this summer.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Overall, it could be a complicated transfer to get over the line for Spurs, but given Cherki’s immense ability and potential, it’s one well worth fighting for, especially as he’s won comparisons to Yamal.
How Cherki Compares to Yamal
Now, before we get to some of the other reasons why Spurs should look to sign Cherki this summer, it’s worth examining this comparison to Yamal and where it comes from.
In this case, it primarily stems from FBref, which looks at players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one and, in this instance, has concluded that the Spaniard is the fourth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Frenchman.
The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, non-penalty expected goals plus assists, passes into the penalty area, through balls, successful take-on percentage, goal-creating actions and more, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.75
0.77
Passes into the Penalty Area
3.55
3.03
Through Balls
1.08
1.09
Goal-Creating Actions
0.96
1.01
Successful Take-On %
48.8%
49.8%
Ball Recoveries
3.92
3.91
However, as brilliant as it is to be compared to a European Champion and one of the most exciting players in world football, it’s not the only reason the Lilywhites should be looking to sign the Lyon ace.
For example, he’s been having an incredible season of his own this year.
In just 35 appearances, totalling 2355 minutes, he’s scored eight goals and provided 18 assists.
That means the “future Ballon d’Or winner,” as dubbed by The Athletic’s Alex Barker, is averaging a goal involvement every 1.34 games, or every 90.57 minutes.
Ultimately, if Spurs are going to continue building a team full of young up-and-coming prospects, as it looks like they are, then there are not many better additions they could make this summer than Cherki.
Spurs were rinsed by Pochettino signing who was a "poor man's Soldado"
The promising striker failed to live up to expectations in North London.
ByJack Salveson HolmesApr 2, 2025
