There are only two current Tottenham Hotspur players who started Mauricio Pochettino’s final game: Ben Davies and Son Heung-min.
The former has been a reliable if unspectacular servant to the club and will be remembered fondly by the fans, but the latter has been a bonafide star, an icon of the club and the Premier League.
However, the South Korean joined the club a decade ago and will turn 33 in the summer, and while his numbers are still decent, he clearly cannot impact games in the same way anymore.
He is simply a victim of time, with research from The Athletic revealing that wingers see a dramatic decline in their ability to beat defenders when they reach 30 years old.
So, if Ange Postecoglou wants to take the club forward next season, he should be looking at a long-term replacement for the club legend, and based on recent reports, Daniel Levy and Co may have identified just the player.
Tottenham's winger search
According to a recent report out of Spain, Spurs are incredibly keen on Feyenoord’s Brazilian dynamo Igor Paixão.
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In fact, alongside the Lilywhites, the report has revealed that North London rivals Arsenal, as well as Newcastle United, Liverpool and Bournemouth, have made contact and expressed their interest in signing the goalscoring wideman.
Fortunately, while the number of interested parties is far from ideal, the Dutch giants reportedly value the 24-year-old maestro at just €30m, which comes out to about £25m.
It could still be a difficult transfer to get over the line, but with how well Paixão has played this season, it’s one Spurs should fight for, especially as he could be the perfect upgrade on Son.
How Paixão compares to Son
Now, when we get down to it, there are two key areas in which Paixão has an advantage over Son, and the first is longevity.
By this, we mean the simple fact that, at 24 years old, the Brazilian is going to be able to play at the very highest level for far longer than the South Korean will be, especially in the high-intensity system Postecoglou wants to implement.
The second area where the Feyenoord star, whom U23 scout Antonio Mango has described as having a real “eye for goal”, has the edge is raw output.
For example, in 38 appearances this season, totalling 3176 minutes, the “quality” Macapá-born winger, as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, has scored 11 goals and provided 15 assists.
That means he is currently averaging a goal involvement every 1.46 games, or every 122.15 minutes, which is an undeniably impressive level of output.
Appearances
38
40
Minutes
3176′
2835′
Goals
11
11
Assists
15
11
Goal Involvements per Match
0.68
0.55
Minutes per Goal Involvement
122.15′
128.86′
In contrast, the former Bayer Leverkusen ace has scored 11 goals and provided 11 assists in 40 appearances, totalling 2835 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.81 games, or every 128.86 minutes.
While that’s still an impressive level of productivity from the Chuncheon-born icon, it’s still less than his potential competition and, given where he is in his career, we’d be stunned if he was able to match it again next year.
Ultimately, Son is undeniably a modern-day great for both Spurs and the Premier League as a whole, but he is much nearer the end of his career than the start, and while he’s plying his trade in a non-top five league at the moment, Paixão looks to have the raw ingredients to be an effective upgrade on the 32-year-old.
Therefore, Levy and Co should do what they can to bring him to N17 before one of their rivals beat them to his signature.
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