Personal terms agreed: Spurs trying to sign "monster" £55m Son partner

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image

The European Championships may have grabbed the footballing world's attention over the last week or so, but like the rest of the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur have a busy summer of transfers to prepare for.

The Lilywhites enjoyed a bumpy first season under Ange Postecoglou that ended in Europa League qualification, but if the Australian is going to succeed in taking the club back to the top, he'll need to have the best players at his disposal.

So, it's good news that, based on recent reports, he could soon have a new clinical number nine in his squad who could form a deadly partnership with Son Heung-min.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from Football Transfers, Tottenham Hotspur have agreed personal terms with Brentford striker Ivan Toney ahead of a potential move.

However, the report has also claimed that the Bees have turned down the Lilywhites' initial £40m bid and that while they value the Englishman at £65m, an offer of around £55m should be enough to seal the deal.

It won't be a cheap deal to complete, but given how impressive Toney's goalscoring record was before this season, it's probably one worth pursuing, especially as his link-up with Son has the potential to be brilliant.

Why Toney would be a great teammate for Son

Now, the elephant in the room is Toney's record this season following his return from his eight-month football ban for betting offences.

In 17 appearances, the 28-year-old managed a reasonable if unspectacular return of just four goals and two assists, equating to a goal involvement on average every 2.8 games.

However, it would be incredibly unfair to judge him solely on those 17 games, considering the incredibly unusual circumstances that came before them, especially when, the season before, he managed to return 26 goals and assists in 35 games for the Bees and the campaign before that, it was 20 goals and assists in 37.

When looking at his output since winning promotion to the Premier League with Brentford as a whole, it becomes impossible to deny that the three-capped international is an excellent striker, and as such, he would help improve Postecoglou's attack in N17.

Specifically, though, his ability to finish chances would surely help club captain Son reach another level, as according to Understat, the South Korean underperformed his expected assists figure by 3.34.

Richarlison might have ended the campaign with a respectable tally of 12 goals and four assists in 31 games, but he has never managed to reach 20 goal involvements in a single season.

In contrast, the "unplayable" Brentford ace, as dubbed by Alan Shearer, has managed to do that twice in his last two full campaigns.

Therefore, while the Brazilian is a valuable player to have in the squad, he's never going to be the sort of nine who could help Son reach 15 plus assists in a single campaign, whereas the Northampton-born "monster", as dubbed by his manager Thomas Frank, certainly is.

Ultimately, it won't be a cheap deal to complete, but with how effective Toney has been when he's been given a full season to play, Tottenham cannot afford to miss out on his signature this season, and neither can Son, for that matter.