POCH SOLD SPURS FLOP FOR 4.5M IN 2019, NOW HE'S OUTSCORING RICHARLISON

After a campaign full of ups and downs last season, it appears as if Tottenham Hotspur fans are in for more of the same this year.

Ange Postecoglou's men have kicked off the Premier League in an unconvincing manner so far, dropping two points away to Leicester City and three to Newcastle United.

The North Londoners were able to utterly dominate Everton, but the Toffees have been exceedingly poor thus far, meaning they are hardly the barometer for measuring this Lilywhites side.

Granted, the club's £65m striker, Dominic Solanke, has missed the last two games, and the £60m Richarlison is also out injured. However, it seems unlikely that the Brazilian ever be the player fans were hoping he'd be in North London, especially when he's being outscored by a former Tottenham flop.

Richarlison's Spurs record

Just over two years ago, Spurs spent around £60m to get Richarlison out of Everton after he had scored 11 goals and provided five assists in just 33 games for the Toffees the season prior, and while he's shown glimpses of quality since then, it would be fair to say that they paid too much.

For example, in his first campaign with the Lilywhites, the former Watford ace could only muster a return of three goals and four assists in 35 appearances, equating to a poor average of a goal involvement every five games.

To his credit, the Brazilian international did improve last season in Harry Kane's absence, scoring 12 goals and providing four assists in just 31 appearances. However, this clearly wasn't enough to convince the club that he could lead the line going forward, as they went out and signed Solanke last month.

In all, Richarlison is a talented player, but he has not been able to establish himself as an essential player for Spurs, and considering he's being outscored by a former flop who left five years ago, it's not looking good for his long-term future in N17.

Georges-Kvin N'Koudou's recent form

The former Spurs flop in question is Cameroon international Georges-Kévin N'Koudou, who joined the club from Marseille in September 2016 for a fee of around £11m.

The left-winger made very little impact in N17 and was sold to Beskitas by Mauricio Pochettino for £4.5m just three years later. He left the Lilywhites with just 27 appearances, one goal, and two assists to his name.

After spending a few years in Turkey, the Versailles-born dynamo made the switch to Saudi Pro League side Damac FC last summer, where he has since been playing very well indeed.

In fact, the 29-year-old wideman outscored Richarlison last season, racking up a respectable tally of 15 goals and five assists in 33 matches, meaning he averaged a goal involvement once every 1.65 games for the Middle Eastern club.

Now the important caveat here is that the quality of opposition is obviously far lower in Saudi Arabia. However, we have seen big names make the move over there and struggle, so it's still impressive from the former Spurs flop.

Ultimately, selling N'Koudou in 2019 was the right thing to do for all parties involved, but perhaps his successful departure from the club should give Richarlison some ideas, unless he can dramatically improve his form in the coming months.

2024-09-07T17:20:57Z dg43tfdfdgfd