Tottenham Hotspur are interested in French international Lucas Digne after he impressed with his performances in his debut season in the Premier League.
According to a report from the Daily Star, the Toffees are open to a swap deal for Digne if Spurs can cough up cash plus their left-back Danny Rose in return for the 25-year-old Frenchman.
Digne won the Everton’s Player of the year award scoring 4 goals and assisting 5 times in his 37 appearances as Marco Silva and co. finished 8th in the table.
Digne under Mauricio Pochettino: Good move?
The left-footed player is a typical modern-day fullback who marauds up and down the left wing contributing heavily in both defensive and offensive phases of the play. Digne, however, adds more than that to his side with his set-piece proficiency being a huge part of his gameplay. Digne took no time to adjust to the rigours of English football and his immediate impact speaks volumes of his quality.
Meanwhile, Rose himself is coming on the back of a decent season with the Lilywhites, playing a vital role in Spurs’ top four finish in the Premier League and reaching the Champions League final for the first time in his career.
The England international is a versatile player who predominantly features as a left-back but can also slot into left midfield as he did on numerous occasions last season allowing Spurs boss Pochettino to be more flexible in his approach.
Rose, who has been a veteran at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, is also a leader in the dressing room. Even though the 28-year-old is not the best left-back currently in the Premier League, Spurs must look to extend his contract which has only two years left on it.
Club chairman Daniel Levy must avoid making the mistakes the club made with the likes of Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld. Alderweireld’s saga last summer attracted a lot of unwanted attention for the club who prefer to make their statement on the football pitch while Eriksen’s situation now, where he only has one year left on his contract, might see him leave the club at a lot lesser transfer fee than Spurs could have demanded had they extended his contract a year back.
Coming back to the left-back position, Spurs also have an excellent back up in Ben Davies who is almost the same age as Digne and bringing in Digne for money plus the loss of a dressing room leader in Rose could hamper Davies’ development at the club.
The money which they would have to spend on Digne could be invested in other key areas on the pitch with the Argentine manager in dire need of new signings to increase squad depth, something Spurs haven’t done for over a year now.
Although Pochettino remains a big fan of the French fullback, the Toffees’ demands to let go of Digne will most likely make Spurs look the other way.
Stat Courtesy: Transfermarkt
I would consider a trade of Davies, plus cash, for Digne, but not Danny Rose, who after his injury woes is close to be being back to his best.