He's like Palmer: Spurs could sign dream Son replacement for just £25m

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Thanks to their sensational Premier League victory over Southampton on Sunday evening, the feeling around Tottenham Hotspur is a little more positive than it was a week ago.

It was practically the complete performance from Ange Postecoglou's side; five goals were scored, none conceded, and they were able to coast through the second half without exerting too much effort.

The likes of James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Pape Matar Sarr all looked back to their brilliant best, and club captain Son Heung-min rolled back the years.

However, while he was excellent, the club need to start looking for his replacement, and the good news is, they might have already found him in a player compared to Cole Palmer, of all people.

Why Spurs need a Son replacement

So, the first thing to say is that, over the last nine years or so, few players have had even close to Son's impact on English football.

The South Korean superstar is undoubtedly a Tottenham great, and you'd be hard-pressed to find many people who'd deny him being a Premier League great as well.

For example, in just 316 appearances in the competition, the Chuncheon-born dynamo has scored 125 goals and provided 68 assists, equating to a fantastic average of a goal involvement every 1.63 games.

However, as spectacular as the former Bayer Leverkusen ace has been for the Lilywhites, time comes for us all, and at 32 years old, his ability to impact games from out wide is beginning to wane.

That isn't a slight on him either, as research carried out by The Athletic found that the age at which wide players peak is 26, so there can be no doubt that while he's still capable of a brilliant performance here and there, he cannot be relied upon to perform week-in-week-out.

Moreover, this season has seen him fade out of games more than ever, making it clear that he cannot be a long-term option as Postecoglou looks to build a title-winning team over the next few years.

The good news is that reports have linked the club with someone who'd be an ideal replacement for Son, someone who's been compared to Palmer.

The dream Son replacement

To get straight to the point, the player in question is Lyon star Rayan Cherki, who, according to a report late last week from GIVEMESPORT, is one of several players being looked at by the club.

There is no mention of a price in the story, but other reports from this month have claimed that he could be available for as little as £25m due to the French side's financial issues.

With that said, before we look at his numbers from this season, let's examine this comparison to Chelsea's Palmer and where it comes from.

It primarily stems from FBref, which compares 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 Englishman is the second 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 goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots on target, goal-creating actions and passing accuracy, all per 90.

However, it's not just the comparison to the Blues' new superstar that makes the 21-year-old such an exciting candidate to replace Son; he's also putting up impressive numbers this season.

For example, in 17 appearances, the incredible youngster, who respected analyst Ben Mattinson described as having "Ballon d'Or potential," has scored five goals and provided seven assists, equating to a goal involvement every 1.41 games.

Ultimately, Spurs will need to sign someone genuinely spectacular to replace the output Son has provided them over the years, and while it would represent something of a gamble, Cherki looks like he has the potential to become that player.