According to Foot Mercato, Spurs scouted 20-year-old French midfielder Boubakary Soumare on Wednesday in a U20 international friendly against Argentina and the scouts were left highly impressed by the youngster’s performance.
French outlet Le10 Sport claims that Newcastle United had also made a bid to sign the Lille midfielder dubbed as the ‘new Paul Pogba‘ before the January transfer deadline, only for the club to turn down the move.
Soumare has made a total of 15 appearances for Lille in all competitions this season, including 11 substitute appearances in Ligue 1. He hasn’t had much playtime just yet but Soumare has already done enough to attract attention from some of the big clubs across Europe.
As Tottenham line up the youngster as a potential replacement for Mousa Dembele in central midfield, let us get a deeper insight into one of Ligue 1’s brightest young prospects- Lille’s Boubakary Soumare.
Born in Noisy-le-Sec, a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France, to parents of Senegalese descent, Soumare played for Paris Saint-Germain at the youth level from 2011 to 2017 before joining Lille for more first-team opportunities.
Soumare made his senior Ligue 1 debut in 2017 against Metz and racked up as many as 32 appearances for Lille in all competitions.
The 20-year-old has also won 31 caps for France at all youth levels upto U20.
Standing at 6ft. 2 inches with a well-built frame, Soumare is a technically-gifted and tactically-versatile midfielder who is comfortable in central, holding and box-to-box roles in the middle of the park.
However, he is most effective when deployed in a box-to-box role as it allows him the freedom to drive forward with pace after winning the ball back.
One of his key attributes is his wonderful range of passing, which allows him to dictate the tempo of the game, keep things ticking in the midfield and switch the play to set up attacks.
Calm and comfortable in possession and quick to pick out the right pass, Soumare excels with his anticipation, sharpness, agility, work-rate and positioning as a central midfielder.
He likes to stay on his feet to intercept the through balls but he is not afraid to get his hands dirty and often puts his body on the line to make crucial challenges.
Soumare looks very dangerous when he carries the ball forward with his towering frame but he is equally adept at using his ball control and upper body strength to retain possession well.
Furthermore, he likes to put his foot through the ball and is very much capable of testing the goalkeeper with his powerful right foot.
Spurs have often benefited from investing in young and promising players, with the likes of Christian Eriksen, Heung-min Son and most recently Juan Foyth establishing themselves as important first-team members.
Boubakary Soumare is certainly a very talented player and Mauricio Pochettino is well-known for his ability to transform unknown youngsters into world-beaters.
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If a move to north London actually materializes, Soumare will be left to compete with the likes of Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp, Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama for the central midfield spot.
It won’t be easy for him to adapt to the Premier League and break into the first-team immediately but given his talent and potential, few would back against him making a big impact in the years to come.