Tottenham Opinion: Why Spurs should avoid signing Arthur Masuaku?
According to a report from The Sun, Tottenham are one of the clubs interested in signing West Ham defender Arthur Masuaku.
The French-born Congolese, 25, joined West Ham from Olympiakos three summers ago. He enjoyed an extended run in the first team due to Aaron Creswell’s fitness problems this past season. The left-back’s explosive displays down the left might have caught the attention Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund and Fiorentina.
Arthur Masuaku has only a year left on his current contract at the London Stadium, but West Ham have an option to extend his contract for another year afterwards, and it remains to be seen if they will be open to letting him leave in the summer.
Keeping that in mind, should Tottenham make a move for the 25-year-old defender?
Tottenham have a lot of work to do over the summer irrespective of what happens in the Champions League final against Liverpool. The north Londoners were in the title race until March before injuries and form of some key players were enough to see Mauricio Pochettino miss out once again on the Premier League title.
One of the areas Pochettino will need to address is at left-back, with the Champions League final against Liverpool could be Danny Rose’s last game in the Tottenham shirt, as per a report from the Sun. Should Rose leave, Spurs will be left with just Ben Davies as their left-back next season. That simply cannot happen and the club may need to find a solution at left-back.
But Pochettino must not splash the cash to sign Arthur Masuaku in the summer to replace Rose. Masuaku has excellent pace and dribbling skills and can be a threat at times for the opposition with his overlapping runs. He can be viewed more as a winger than a left-back purely due to his attacking traits.
For a left-back, defending comes first and Masuaku is not comfortable in that aspect, let alone in 1v1 situations. The Congolese is suspect defensively and has often made errors at the back in a West Ham shirt. That is probably the reason why he hasn’t yet established himself as a regular starter at left-back for the Hammers.
Verdict
Masuaku is certainly not at the level of Rose and won’t fit Pochettino’s style of play at Spurs. The Congo international is excellent going forward but lacks defensive discipline and hasn’t been consistent enough at West Ham to merit a move to a top-six club in the Premier League.
To Read More Tottenham News, Click Here:- Latest Tottenham News
All in all, Pochettino should avoid signing Masuaku in the summer transfer window. He certainly can attract better players at the club if Spurs are willing to spend heavily.