Tottenham Hotspur set to sign Nice’s Alassane Plea including Fernando Llorente in deal
Tottenham Hotspur has reportedly made an offer of €26 million for Nice’s forward Alassane Plea.
Alassane Plea
The 25-year-old Frenchman is one of the most underrated footballers in Europe. A product of Lyon’s academy, he has shown remarkable consistency ever since coming over to Nice in 2014 and has emerged as a leader for a team regularly competing for European football lately. With 16 goals, Plea was Nice’s best goal scorer last season.
Tottenham was thought to be after Manchester United’s Anthony Martial. However, it’s looking less and less likely they’ll be able to acquire him, mostly because of the over-the-top asking price set by the Manchester club. Instead, The Lilywhites will settle for a cheaper version of Martial, albeit a more complete one. The €26 million fee Tottenham is set to pay could turn out to be a bargain for a player of Plea’s caliber.
What arises doubts is the London team’s history with Ligue 1 acquisitions. Benjamin Stambouli, Clinton N’Jie, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, Serge Aurier and Lucas Moura have all joined Pochettino’s squad in recent years, yet none of them has managed to assert himself as a quality option for the Argentinian manager. There’s still time for Aurier and Moura to change our minds.
Alassane Plea is a different player. He’s an established star in France and doesn’t have the holes in his game his predecessors had or have. Most often, Plea operates as a secondary striker behind the center forward, a role which usually belongs to Son Heung-Min. That way, he can most effectively take advantage of his quickness, as well as his accurate right foot. In addition to the skills, Alassane Plea is a humble young man and a high-character, hard-working guy.
Fernando Llorente
The acquisition of Plea will prompt Tottenham to reduce its salary by getting rid of all unsustainable assets, starting with Fernando Llorente. The striker was seldom used last season, making a total of 16 appearances, almost all of them from the bench at the end of matches. That hardly justifies his €4.5 million salary.
Fulham is a team interested in acquiring the experienced Spanish striker. However, Aleksandar Mitrovic is their priority. If The Cottagers manage to agree a fee with Newcastle United, something which hasn’t happened until now, then Llorente becomes a second option again. The man himself has expressed a wish to return to his football roots in Athletic Bilbao. It appears to be a more logical solution, although he might need to take a severe pay cut in order to make the deal work.