Spurs are favorites to land a £60m Phil Foden-like “exciter”.

Tottenham Hotspur are back in pre-season and, having signed the incredibly exciting Archie Gray a few weeks ago, are a few steps ahead of some of their rivals at the moment.

However, less than a month before the start of the Premier League, a lot can change, and if Daniel Levy wants to give Ange Postecoglou the best chance to succeed, he needs to bring more reinforcements, especially in attack.

Fortunately, recent reports suggest that could be the case, as the latest star rumored to be moving to N17 is one of the most exciting players in the league and has been compared to Phil Foden.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from reporter Steve Kay on KS1TV, Tottenham have retained a strong interest in Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze.

Kay says other clubs are interested in the England international, including North London rivals Arsenal, but the Lillywhites are “frontrunners” in the race for his signature at the moment.

The Queens Park Rangers ace's release clause is £60m, but Kay does not expect that to be a problem for Levy and Co.

It would still represent a huge investment from the club, but given his form last season and the comparisons to Foden, it's something to do.

How does Eze compare to Phil Foden

Now, the first thing that should be addressed here is the comparison with Foden, which can be divided into two parts.

The first is that, as Manchester City's ace, Eze is a powerful attacker who can play on the flanks and in the middle of the attacking midfield. Last season, he played nine games in the former position and 17 in the latter for Palace, while City made 31 and 15 as the club's top ten last year.

The second, and more meaty, comparison between the two comes from FBref, which compares players in the Premier League and creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each player. In this case, they conclude that the Stockport-born dynamo is the third most attacking player in the same or wing for the 26-year-old.

The best way to see how FBref came to this conclusion is to look at how closely the pair rank in a number of key metrics below, including non-penalty goals and assists, continuous carries, shots on target, key passes and passes on goal. penalty area, all 90.

However, while the Premier League winner's comparison is certainly attractive, it is not the only reason Spurs should sign the “thriller” of Palace, as the data analyst Ben Mattinson called him; you only need to look at his form last season to see a big reason why he cost £60m.

In 31 games for the Eagles, he scored 11 goals and provided six assists, equating to an impressive goal involvement ratio of 1.82.

If he can do that in a Palace team that has kicked into gear after the appointment of Oliver Glasner, imagine what he can do under Postecoglou.

In the end, while it is undoubtedly a huge sum, his impressive displays in 2023/24 and the favorable comparison with Foden should be all the encouragement Spurs need for Eze to be a special signing.