Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent has been left baffled that the club are pressing ahead with the signing of PSV Eindhoven’s Steven Bergwijn.
The Dutchman has been linked with a move to Spurs for several days now and PSV confirmed on Tuesday that he missed training in order to travel to England and complete the move (@PSV). According to BBC Sport, the 22-year-old will cost Tottenham £27 million (at the time of writing, the deal is not yet complete).
However, it is a move which Bent had admitted he doesn’t really understand. He feels that the club do not need a new winger which is where Bergwijn predominantly plays and that instead they should be putting all their efforts into signing a proper striker.
Speaking about Spurs potentially signing Bergwijn, the ex-England centre-forward told Football Insider: “I don’t understand their recruitment sometimes.
“Yeah, I get that he’s a very good player but is a winger one that they need? Is he someone that’s again going to change lives? They’ve got a lot of talented wingers there.
“They’ve got Lamela, you’ve got Son, you’ve got Lucas Moura? Do you need all these so-called wingers, with another one in the building? I don’t think you do.
“So for me, I would go, stay away from it. Spurs, they’re trying to get some good players in but I thought the priority would be a centre-forward.”
It is easy to see where Bent is coming from here. As he says, the club already have several quality wingers such as Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela so is that really a position that they need to strengthen in this window?
With Harry Kane having been ruled out until at least April having had surgery on a ruptured tendon in his left hamstring (tottenhamhotspur.com), bringing in a new centre-forward should really be their main objective before the deadline on 31st January.
Bergwijn rarely plays as a central striker, he has done so on just six occasions for PSV this season and he hasn’t scored a goal in any of those outings (Transfermarkt). Overall he has scored just five times in the Eredivisie this term (Transfermarkt) and therefore he isn’t the prolific goal scorer that Spurs need to replace Kane.
So it would certainly an interesting addition by Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese may have another signing up his sleeve as well as Bergwijn, but if the Dutchman is their sole attacking arrival it won’t fill the void in their striking department.
Spurs fans, what are your thoughts on potentially signing Steven Bergwijn? Let us know in the comments below…
