Transfer Scouting Report: Can Ezequiel Lavezzi thrive at Tottenham Hotspur?

Lavezzi

With Tottenham Hotspur boss Andre Villas-Boas keen to add to his forward line in January, the Metro claims that Paris Saint-Germain’s Ezequiel Lavezzi, said to be rated at £15 million, is a target. But would the 28-year-old Argentina international be the ideal signing?

Given Villas-Boas uses a 4-2-3-1 system, it means the lone striker would have to be comfortable leading the line – able to hold up the ball, link up effectively with his surrounding team-mates, as well as be mobile. Needless to say, he would need to provide a consistent goal threat too.

Lavezzi is a very quick, mobile player, but he isn’t the lone striker type. During his best years at Napoli under Walter Mazzarri, he thrived in a role on the left in behind lone striker Fabio Quagliarella and then Edinson Cavani. In that position, he was able to use his best attributes: pace, trickery, and crossing ability.

Though featuring up top on occasion at PSG, he has played mainly on the left since joining for a deal reportedly worth up to €30 million last summer. Certainly this season, with the arrival of former Napoli team-mate Cavani and Laurent Blanc’s wanting to fit the big-money striker into the line-up along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi has featured in his favoured role. And though not in the best of form, his best attributes have been on show.

Total Chances Created by Lavezzi

He has completed a decent 22.2% of his crosses so far, helping him create 11 chances in his eight appearances to date, which is the joint third-highest at the club behind Ibrahimovic (18) and Thiago Motta (12). His dribbling has also been good, with him averaging two take-on’s per game, completing 56% of them.

Given he is very comfortable and established in this wide left role, the fact that Spurs are being linked with him is baffling. It’s not as though the Argentinian has a good scoring record to suggest that he is worth a try up top, having netted just four league goals since signing for the Ligue 1 champions and only 38 in 156 Serie A appearances for Napoli before that. He never even reached double figures in Serie A, reaching as high as nine only in his final season there.

Even if the intention is to play him in his favoured role, the one position Spurs surely don’t need to strengthen is out wide. They currently have Gylfi Sigurdsson, Lewis Holtby, Erik Lamela, Andros Townsend, and Nacer Chadli as options for the left flank alone. Quite simply, there is no room for Lavezzi there.

The same Metro article reports that Villas-Boas is also set to rekindle his interest in Internacional striker Leandro Damiao. He is the type of striker who can lead the line on his own and, when on form, can provide the goals that Spurs’ current crop of strikers is struggling to get at the moment. That said, a deal here would make a lot more sense.

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