Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield needs an overhaul this summer. That’s pretty much a universally acknowledged truth. What isn’t so clear is how that transformation is going to take place and which players Ange Postecoglou will opt to keep around before bringing in reinforcements.
The main decision that needs to be made is what to do with Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma. Lolo is 27, Bissouma is 28. Both have contracts that expire next summer, and decisions need to be made as to whether to extend one of them, both of them, or neither of them as they enter into the “twilight years” of their careers. Neither of them are sixes in the style that Ange Postecoglou wants, and both have at times struggled with injury, form, and overall fitness with what Postecoglou wants to do.
In truth, this is a decision that probably should’ve been made LAST summer, but Tottenham apparently didn’t like the midfield market and opted to kick the can down the road. But now perhaps we have a clue as to what Postecoglou and the club wants to do.
According to Sami Mokbel at the Daily Mail (sigh, I know, but Mokbel is a solidly reliable journo despite working for that rag), Tottenham have opened preliminary talks to extend Bentancur’s contract.
There’s a ways to go here, but it appears that if there’s a choice between Bissouma and Bentancur, the club has chosen Lolo. It’s an interesting choice. Lolo has been... let’s say “up and down” over the past year or so. He hasn’t looked like the same player since returning from a major injury last season, and of course he had the whole Korean racist video thing and subsequent suspension. But since getting some rest recently, he’s played well the past couple of matches. He’s also a year younger than Bissouma, and Yves has also been inconsistent.
Tottenham have an option to purchase Real Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso this summer should they choose, and there’s also the possibility of working Archie Gray into the midfield next season as well, a position that Spurs apparently still think is in Gray’s long term future. Extending Bentancur and letting Bissouma go this summer would reduce the need for a more drastic summer overhaul (and the need to sign two central midfielders), and it maybe provides a little bit of clarity as to how Johan Lange and Postecoglou want to see from the midfield next season.
Bentancur has some agency, of course. He could choose not to extend and to move on this summer as well, or they could decide to extend BOTH Lolo and Yves (which would be a pretty crazy outcome, to be honest). But irrespective of that, it sure does seem like the club has chosen it’s fighter for next year.