Transfer Story
After a long day of ironing out the details, Tottenham Hotspur announced the signing of Spanish striker Fernando Llorente from fellow Premier League club, Swansea City on a 2-year deal with the fee believed to be in the region of £15m.
The Lilywhites thus concluded the transfer window in a decent manner where they signed Davinson Sanchez, Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth and Paulo Gazzaniga along with Llorente.
The Spurs lacked squad depth to compete in Europe, especially in the attacking department and the signing of Fernando Llorente has the potential to completely change that.
Know your Player
Fernando Llorente is a veteran striker in world football. He was one of the architects who helped Swansea avoid relegation last season. He has played for clubs like Athletic Bilbao, Juventus and Sevilla before signing for Swansea ahead of last season.
There were fears about the rustiness in his game and his inability to adapt to a new league as he had already crossed 30 years of age. However, Llorente shoved aside any doubts and scored 15 goals in 33 appearances for the Swans. His combination with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Paul Clement’s tactical intelligence helped Swansea to stay in the Premier League.
Llorente was a constant threat in front of the goal and was one of the few shining lights for the Swans in their largely disappointing campaign. He took an average of 1.6 shots on target in every match and managed to rack up an assist too.
Llorente used his physique to his advantage as he made 36 clearances as well as 26-headed clearances in every match. He also attempted 18 tackles and thus helped his team with his defensive duties as well.
What will he offer Pochettino?
Fernando Llorente is a traditional centre forward. Tall, well built, calm-headed and strong with both his feet; he can give defenders nightmares on his day. He is very strong in the air, which helps him to score goals as well as win many aerial duels.
8 of his 15 goals were headers. With talented players like Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Victor Wanyama behind him, Llorente can help create and score many more goals for Tottenham.
He can help Mauricio Pochettino take some pressure off the shoulders of the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane in the goal scoring department, which would help Tottenham fire on all cylinders for a longer period of time. Despite their obvious youth talent and the tactical mastermind of Pochettino, Tottenham have failed to win trophies even though they have come close in recent years.
Moreover, he is a proven goal scorer, which is quite evident from his statistics. Fernando Llorente loves challenges and has played in three different countries until now. Tottenham Hotspur’s project looks exciting enough for the Spaniard to prosper and make another statement in his long career.
STATISTICS COURTESY: WHOSCORED
