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According to London Evening Standard, Tottenham have been given an extra 48 hours to decide where they’ll play their Premier League home games next season.

Premier League rules state that no club can play their home games at two venues in the same season, but the project to rebuild White Hart Lane after a season-long stay at Wembley has fallen behind schedule and may not be completed for the start of the coming campaign.

Daniel Levy and the club’s other paymasters were supposed to make a decision by the end of May but the Premier League initially extended the deadline until this Wednesday. Per London Evening Standard though, they’ve now been given until Friday with three options seemingly on the table: either play the whole of next season at Wembley, convince Richard Scudamore and his colleagues to make an exception to Premier League rules or reverse the early fixtures of 2018/19 likely resulting in their first three top flight outings being away from home.

The latter scenario may initially seem superficial change, but to what extent could it affect Tottenham’s campaign and their chances of holding onto a Champions League qualification slot for another season? Three clubs have been in exactly the same situation before at Premier League level, so here’s a quick look at what history tells us about Tottenham’s predicament…

Blackpool – 2010/11

What happened? Due to rebuilding at Bloomfield Road Blackpool started their first and to date only Premier League campaign by playing four of their first five fixtures away from home. Two of them proved disastrous – battered by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to incur a ten-goal deficit – but the other two produced surprising wins as Ian Holloway’s boys beat relegation rivals Wigan and Newcastle.

Did it make a difference? Not as much as it could have done, simply because Blackpool carried huge momentum with them from the Championship and proved to be something of an unknown proposition for many of the clubs they faced in the early stages of the campaign. In fact, the Seasiders ended up finishing 10th in the Premier League’s away table, compared to a mere 19th in the home one.

How did the season end? Relegation by a single point, although that was predominantly caused by a run of just two wins from Blackpool’s last 18 games. That being said, they did beat Liverpool and Tottenham at Bloomfield Road that season, so perhaps those early visits to Chelsea and Arsenal would have panned out incredibly differently if they’d been played at home when Blackpool clearly had momentum on their side.

Liverpool – 2016/17

What happened? Jurgen Klopp’s first full season in charge at Anfield was somewhat curtailed by the rebuilding of the Main Stand, obliging Liverpool to play their first three fixtures of the campaign on the road and producing three different results in the process – a dramatic 4-3 win over Arsenal, a shock 2-0 defeat to Burnley and a 1-1 draw with Tottenham.

Did it make a difference? On the surface, not a huge one. Liverpool grabbed two important results against big six rivals away from home that eventually lead them to finishing in the top four, and in some ways it was probably an unforeseen benefit to play those games so early in the campaign when a lack of true match sharpness acted as something of a leveller. Later in the season, Liverpool won the reverse fixtures at Anfield as well.

How did the season end? Liverpool finished above Arsenal to make the top four but also fell one win short of beating Manchester City to third place. That difference could well have been the defeat at Turf Moor; although the Reds have made a habit of losing on the road under Klopp to lesser teams built upon organised, deep-sitting defences, Sean Dyche’s side seemed to catch them cold that day – scoring two incisive breakaways. At another point in the campaign, perhaps Liverpool would have done enough to win.

West Ham – 2017/18

What happened? Due to the World Championships being held in the capital that summer, West Ham were forced to play their first three games on the road as the club converted the much-maligned London Stadium back into a footballing venue, swapping the running track for extra seats.

And although there were other factors, it had a huge impact on West Ham’s results, dropping to 20th place on the opening day after a 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford while also losing to eventual relegation rivals Southampton and Newcastle.

Did it make a difference? A massive one. The Hammers started the season on the back foot and would spend all but seven of the Premier League’s first 19 matchdays in the relegation zone.

Furthermore, the results – and the angered response to them – inevitably influenced the club’s decision to sack Slaven Bilic in early November and replace him with David Moyes. That instantly changed the mentality of West Ham’s season; they were meant to be masterminding a break into the top seven, but spent the remainder of it fighting off relegation to the Championship instead.

How did the season end? The Irons eventually finished up nine points clear of the drop line but it was only during the latter stages of the campaign in which they truly pulled away from relegation bother. And even that wasn’t enough to keep Moyes in the job, having since been replaced by Manuel Pellegrini due to a negative style of football that was no doubt caused by the mess he inherited just eight games on from West Ham’s away-game stretch.

It would be wrong to describe it as the most determining factor, but those early results went a long way to defining West Ham’s season, which was so disastrous it almost manifested into a full-scale riot at the London Stadium during a 3-0 loss to Burnley.

Tottenham – 2018/19

Which games would change? The fixtures are officially announced on Thursday, meaning Tottenham will still have around 24 hours to make their decision, and the quality of the opposition could well be a decisive factor in this.

Tottenham’s biggest struggles away from home last season were against top six rivals, a 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge being the only exception in four defeats and one draw at Old Trafford, so a batch of heavyweight contests during the early weeks of the campaign could cost them dearly.

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How will it affect them? History aside, the big concern for the Lilywhites is how every season to date under Mauricio Pochettino has started half-paced. In fact, from the first 48 games of the last three seasons (16 per term), Tottenham have won less than half, 22, and lost eight to average just 1.75 points per game.

To give some context, Tottenham required an average of more than two points per game last season to finish fourth. Add in the extra disadvantage of beginning the season with three away games and Spurs could really end up in a compromising position before the campaign truly gets going.

Missing out on top four? It’s certainly a possibility considering the competitiveness at Tottenham’s end of the Premier League looks set to jump up another gear in 2018/19. Starting the season with three modest results could well be decisive come the close of the campaign, although the counter-argument is how the power of the new White Hart Lane – which will far more like home than Wembley ever has for Spurs fans – will help Tottenham over the line for those rescheduled home clashes.

The overriding message though, is not to downplay the psychological importance those first three games could have.

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As reported by The Daily Mail, Steven Gerrard believes Alfredo Morelos has a key role to play at Rangers next season, despite recent speculation that clubs around the world are interested in his services.

What’s the story?

Gerrard is currently preparing his side for crucial UEFA Europa League qualifiers next month, on a pre-season training camp in Spain. Having already made a number of signings ahead of the new season, his squad has quickly been assembled ahead of the competitive action.

Just as important this summer though is retaining the players that can still play a big part at Ibrox, despite the club’s failed season last term.

It appears that one of those players Gerrard has decided he wants to keep is Alfredo Morelos, despite reported interest from France, Turkey and China.

As quoted by The Daily Mail, Gerrard said of Morelos:

We love the player. The fans love the player. He’s a goal scorer. We know what he can add to this team and squad.

If you’re asking me if his head has been turned that’s a question you’d have to ask the player himself. But where we stand right now he’s a Rangers player and I’m delighted to have him.

I take it is a positive, in terms of the interest that is coming his way. It shows we have a good player here. A player capable of scoring heavy numbers, which is what we need.

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Can Morelos shine under Gerrard?

Morelos’ reputation at Rangers took a massive hit towards the end of the season after he missed a number of golden chances against rivals Celtic, but his return of 18 goals was actually very decent for a debut campaign at Ibrox.

If he stays at the Light Blues and keeps himself fit, he should be aiming to score at least 20 goals next term, which would be a vital goal contribution for Steven Gerrard’s side. The fact the new boss has so much faith in the Colombian youngster could be huge for the player and bring his game onto new heights.

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There’s no doubt that Morelos isn’t the finished product, but Rangers shouldn’t be considering offers for him this summer, unless the money involved would be trans-formative to Gerrard’s squad budget.

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The role of the co-commentator is pretty straightforward when broken down to its nuts and bolts. While the anchor describes the action taking place before our very eyes their companion’s obligation is to chime in from time to time, providing snippets of insight where possible; insight usually garnered from years of playing experience.

In America they’re called ‘color commentators’ and that’s bang on the money because without them a singular commentary would be as black and white as reading aloud from a phone book. Elsewhere the role is sometimes known as a ‘summariser’. In more optimistic climes they’re referred to as ‘analysts’.

I have a question though: if the role is so prosaic – and it is: it really, really is – then how come former British footballers are so thoroughly terrible at doing it?

Take Glenn Hoddle as a case in point. Better yet, just take Glenn Hoddle. Please. Anywhere will do. Anywhere that doesn’t have a microphone and a gantry that is.

The ex-England boss is widely regarded as being a shrewd and astute tactician, or at least that’s what we’re commonly informed. How strange then that an hour and a half in his company is less a masterclass in footballing nuance and more akin to a wittering drone sidling up next to you in the pub to make your afternoon a complete misery.

With his estuary colloquialisms and compulsion to finish every banal observation with ‘if you like’ Hoddle regularly drives a nation to the mute button and the sane sanctuary of Radio 5 live so as to listen to grown up, interesting input from the likes of Pat Nevin and Chris Sutton.

Acknowledging this throws up another query. Are Nevin and Sutton naturally better suited to the role than the creepily detached Hoddle? Unquestionably yes; a thousand times yes. But is the difference in format also to blame?

Perhaps, and not just for the obvious reason that with radio the absence of pictures requires the ‘color commentator’ to come into their own and swish around some paint-strokes. Radio stations, by and large, are not constantly petrified of you switching over to a rival. If you tune in, great, welcome aboard. If you tune out, we’ll see you again real soon. This security lends itself to a more relaxed affair and so listening to Nevin in particular feels like you’re settling in to enjoy a game with a better informed mate.

There’s more too. Radio has a higher opinion of its listeners. After all, you’re unlikely to be some kid with twitchy fingers and a five second attention span because you’ve not only tuned into the adult medium of the wireless but you’ve eschewed the shouting and juvenility of Radio 1.

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Whereas with television it’s open house policy curtails this thinking. Even when showing a national sport that is the sole draw in luring you to its channel they require chatter to fix you to the sofa and away from the remote. And chatter is a funny thing. Firstly it needs charisma and a large dollop of personality injected into it to make it engaging but more so it needs to appeal to millions of very different people across very different demographics. That requires an everyman.

Glenn Hoddle isn’t an everyman. He was simply an extremely talented midfielder. In ‘real life’ he’s a bit odd: the kind of guy you encounter through circumstance and walk away feeling as if there is a veneer of strangeness on your skin that needs shaking off. Martin Keown isn’t an everyman either. Five minutes of enduring his intensity down the pub and you’d be wondering where the hell your wife is so you can get away from the lunatic with the penetrating stare.

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Add Mark Lawrenson’s pantomime miserablism into the mix, along with Danny Murphy’s chippy hostility, and a poor schmuck in Philip Neville who desperately needs a professional counsellor to tell him that he doesn’t need to try so hard at everything in life just because his older brother is a superior human being, and you have a compendium of oddballs if fame was taken from them.

It’s hardly a surprise then that we recoil with twisted spleens whenever they pipe up during a game we’d otherwise be enjoying (and in Keown’s case piping up a LOT – honestly Martin, you really don’t need to make a judgement call on a throw-in). It’s hardly a surprise that social media goes into meltdown any time these individuals pollute our ear-drums with their scrambled vernacular and stupid opinions, individuals chosen for their stature rather than the human qualities they profoundly lack.

We were all so much looking forward to this World Cup. We deserve better than this.

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According to reports in The Guardian, West Ham United and Everton are two of the Premier League clubs that would be interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who earns £60,000-a-week according to The Telegraph, on loan this summer.

What’s the word, then?

Well, The Guardian says that the Blues won’t entertain any permanent offers for the 22-year-old before the window slams shut on August 9, but they would be willing to let him join another top flight team on a 12-month loan deal – as they did last term when the England international joined Crystal Palace.

The 6ft 3in midfielder has certainly made a big impression for his country at the 2018 World Cup following an impressive cameo from the substitutes’ bench in the 2-1 win against Tunisia, before he started ahead of the injured Dele Alli in the 6-1 success against Panama on Sunday.

The Guardian says that Loftus-Cheek has no intention of playing a bit-part role at Stamford Bridge having featured regularly for the Eagles and helped them recover from the worst-ever Premier League start to secure an impressive 11th-place finish.

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Why should he choose West Ham over Everton?

Firstly, a move to the London Stadium would allow the 22-year-old to stay in the capital, but a move makes sense for footballing reasons in particular.

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The England man could effectively fill the void left by the injured Manuel Lanzini – who is expected to be out for the entirety of the 2018/19 campaign – which should mean that he would be a regular Irons starter under Manuel Pellegrini, who should be looking to bring these three former Hammers stars back to the club this summer.

The chance to link up with Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez would surely be tempting, and the presence of Yannick Bolasie, Ademola Lookman and Gylfi Sigurdsson at Everton make it difficult to see where Loftus-Cheek would fit in either in a central attacking midfield role, or even on the left flank where he often featured in for Palace.

Everton are interested in signing Rennes defender Ramy Bensebaini, according to French football magazine L’Equipe, but they will have to see off strong interest from Stuttgart.

The 23-year-old, who is valued at £7.2million on Transfermarkt, made 29 appearances in Ligue 1 for Rennes last season and impressed for the French side, averaging over five clearances and nearly two tackles per game.

Bensebaini is comfortable playing across the back line and has made 11 appearances for the Algeria national team.

According to L’Equipe, Bensebaini is under contract until 2020 at Rennes but Stuttgart are keen on signing the defender this summer and they are the favourites to do so.

How far do you think England will go in Russia? Let us know here and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

However, Marco Silva has also reportedly declared interest and appears to be monitoring the situation with Stuttgart to see if the Toffees can scupper any deal.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255857″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Everton’s opening fixtures for the 201819 Premier League season”]

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Everton are in need of defensive reinforcements, with Phil Jagielka and Ashley Williams entering the later stages of their careers, and Michael Keane not quite reaching the performances expected of him.

Here’s a selection of what some Everton fans are saying about the potential transfer on social media.

Arsenal are in a tug-of-war to sign AFC Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake, according to The Telegraph.

However, the Gunners face a battle to sign the Dutchman, who is wanted by four other Premier League clubs, including Chelsea, who have a £40m buy-back clause inserted into his contract.

The move comes amid some terrible injury news concerning Calum Chambers, who was ruled out for between six to nine months yesterday.

Mikel Arteta’s side are also thought to be chasing the signature of Red Bull Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano.

This is exactly the sort of player who should be earmarked as a signing for the north London outfit. A young player with experience is the type of player who won’t only come in and have an immediate impact due to his experience, but will also have the scope to improve and be able to adjust his game due to his tender age.

Ake is only 24-years-old, so has yet to reach the peak of his career, however, he has amassed more than 130 appearances in the English top-flight so far in his career (via Transfermarkt).

His performances this season show that he has all the traits to work in Arteta’s system at the Emirates Stadium.

With a passing average of just under 90%, Ake shows he has the technical ability to deal with playing out of the back like the Spanish coach has been demanding (via WhoScored).

However, his defensive game is not to be ignored with the Netherlands international having committed fewer fouls and been dribbled past fewer times per game than any Arsenal player.

Ake’s blend of youthfulness and experience makes him the perfect candidate to come in and replace the defensive void left by Chambers. In theory, he wouldn’t need a period of adjustment and he would have the scope to improve in the future, making him a must in the transfer window.

Arsenal fans, what do you make of the potential signing of Ake? Let us know your thoughts!

One of the oldest footballing clichés – ‘the game will be won and lost in midfield’ – may grate on the ears every time overpaid pundits, who seem to know less than you, utter the words as if they are wise with the wisdom of a, well, wise man. Annoying.

A cliché, but it so often rings true. Even more annoying.

The sheer amount of stellar Premier League midfielders over the years is quite simply astounding. Where strikers often take the plaudits in securing a crucial win for their side, cast your mind back to the number of times a huge tie has been won and lost on the performance of your star midfielders.

A funny breed, those who opt to ply their trade in the engine room. There are so many different types it’s almost tempting to see if David Attenborough fancies conducting some sort of study on their differences.

Defensive, holding, deep-lying, wingers, box-to-box, the list is almost endless!

Here’s a look at the FIFTY best midfielders to ever play in the Premier League…

DIMITRI PAYET

PAUL POGBA

GEORGE BOATENG

MOUSA DEMBELE

N’GOLO KANTE

PHILIPPE COUTINHO

NIGEL DE JONG

DELE ALLI

FERNANDINHO

JOE COLE

NICKY BUTT

MESUT OZIL

STEVE MCMANAMAN

JAMIE REDKNAPP

ARJEN ROBBEN

OWEN HARGREAVES

TUGAY

MIKEL ARTETA

GARETH BARRY

DIETMAR HAMANN

JAMES MILNER

DAVID GINOLA

PAUL GASCOIGNE

MICHAEL BALLACK

JAVIER MASCHERANO

ROBERT PIRES

PAUL INCE

EDEN HAZARD

SANTI CAZORLA

MICHAEL ESSIEN

JUAN MATA

LUKA MODRIC

DAVID SILVA

KEVIN DE BRUYNE

JOHN BARNES

MICHAEL CARRICK

EMMANUEL PETIT

DAVID BECKHAM

YAYA TOURE

CLAUDE MAKELELE

GARETH BALE

CESC FABREGAS

XABI ALONSO

FRANK LAMPARD

CRISTIANO RONALDO

STEVEN GERRARD

PAUL SCHOLES

PATRICK VIEIRA

ROY KEANE

RYAN GIGGS

With the January transfer window just around the corner, we at Football FanCast are running the rule over rumoured targets of the Premier League’s top clubs.

Some, such as Liverpool-linked Ilkay Gundogan and reported Manchester United target Romelu Lukaku, are already well known to the Premier League fan base. Others, however, remain somewhat shrouded in mystery – names we’ve seen countless times in the newspapers and online without being given much insight into how good they actually are.

Palermo’s Franco Vazquez is a classic example. In recent months, he’s been linked with Tottenham Hotspur by talkSPORT and Chelsea by The Metro, but having only ever plied his trade in Argentina and Italy (albeit with a short loan spell in La Liga) you’d be quickly forgiven for not knowing too much about the 26-year-old attacking midfielder.

So with a bit of help from our stats-mad mates at Whoscored, we’re going to shed some light on Vazquez’s style of play, strengths, weaknesses and form to try and explain what all the fuss is about.

UNDERRATED?

As Palermo recorded an impressive 11th place finish in the top flight last season after claiming the Serie B title the year prior, it was Franco Vazquez’ attacking accomplice Paulo Dybala who took the lion’s share of the credit. As you can see below, they were one of the most frequent scoring partnerships in the division last term.

Indeed, the 22-year-old earned comparisons with Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi, before being linked with virtually every major club in Europe and eventually moving to Juventus in a £29million deal. He’s performed well for the Old Lady, netting ten times across all competitions already, but the stats suggest Dybala’s suitors may have missed a trick.

As shown above, Whoscored rated Vazquez as the best player in Serie A last season with ten goals, ten assists and eight Man of the Match awards from 37 outings, and he’s continued in a similar vein this year, albeit beaten to top spot by Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain. The fact Palermo are currently 14th in the table makes the 26-year-old’s average rating of 7.64 all the more impressive.

BEST DRIBBLER IN SERIE A

Despite never being the quickest of attackers, partly due to the limited agility of his 6 foot 2 frame, expert dribbling remains Vazquez’s prominent asset. Statistically, he’s the best dribbler in the Italian top flight and one of just two Serie A players to make it into Europe’s top ten – along with Torino’s full-back-come-winger Bruno Peres.

As a consequence – and in no small part due to Italian football’s eternal lust for dirty defending – the Italy international is the most fouled player in Europe this season, drawing a whopping 4.8 per match as shown below.

Needless to say, free kicks are becoming more important than ever in the beautiful game as the quality of delivery increases year upon year. 34 goals from free kicks – either direct or crossed – have been scored already in the Premier League this season.

DEFENSIVELY SOUND

Premier League clubs are often only interested in the more complete players who can defend and attack in equal measure. Vazquez firmly falls into that category; no player across Europe to be fielded regularly as a No.10 or a striker (the 26-year-old’s two main positions) have averaged more successful tackles per match than him this season, as shown above.

Likewise, only Athletic Bilbao’s Raul Garcia has attempted more tackles than him per match throughout Europe. So suitors like Chelsea and Spurs really will be buying a double-edged player, who has the industriousness, tactical awareness and tackling ability to play in deeper positions if necessary.

FLAWS

With perhaps the exception of Lionel Messi, there is no such thing as perfection in football. Every player has their flaws and that goes for Franco Vazquez as well – perhaps shedding some light on why none of Europe’s top clubs came in for him last summer.

We’ve praised the two-cap international’s dribbling ability and tenacity, but they do come with a statistical downside. As you can see above, no player in Serie A has committed more fouls than Vazquez this season and as you can see below, no Serie A player has been dispossessed as many times as him either. He also ranks second for unsuccessful touches.

When factoring in Vazquez’ 80% passing accuracy and 23% shooting accuracy, that’s 22.8 times per match he gives the ball back to the opposition in one way or another.

Manchester City fans in the Tavern will be interested to hear that the club’s Elite Development Squad manager Patrick Vieira is still being groomed to be a future first team manager at the Etihad, according to the Manchester Evening News.

The concept comes after Brian Marwood, the Blues’ Football Administration Officer, claimed that Vieira’s scheduled takeover at sister club New York City FC on 1st January is part of a wider development scheme to prepare the Frenchman to take charge at City once his three-year contract in the MLS expires.

Quoted by The Manchester Evening News, Marwood said:

“It was important that we could find the next development stage for Patrick and it was still part of the group. That opportunity came about in New York. We are really excited, he is really excited by it and I think it is exactly the next step he needs.”

Marwood revealed that the club are keen to see the former Arsenal midfielder as a manager, especially at City, in the future. But he also made it apparent that Vieira needs time to develop as a manager.

“Hopefully, at some point, he’ll come back and manage Manchester City. That’s the ambition for him and that’s the ambition for us. But he has to go through this learning curve. We always felt from day one that he could make a major contribution to the club.”

“The club, at that time, still had a lot of developing to do, a lot of growing up to do and the culture, which is very important to what we are about, needed to be driven by people that had been around winning mentalities, winning culture, humility and trying to have the right values and behaviours.”

And Marwood was full of praise for Vieira, as he believes that he holds all of the required qualities to be a top class manager in the future.

“We felt Patrick epitomised all of those things, so he was very crucial to where we were in that stage in our development. Since he came, he showed that within the dressing room, but we also felt there was a big long-term potential with him. We took him on our journey that saw him for one year working within the business.”

However, with the City Football Group growing as a worldwide brand, having recently sold a 13% stake for £265 million, Marwood also cited the importance of off-field financial and commercial performance of a club, as well as the on-field performance of a team’s players.

“He had lived as a footballer for many years , but probably had not quite grasped or understood the importance of communications, marketing, commercial, legal and all those areas.

“To be fair to him, he immersed himself fully in those 12 months and I think he came away with a different perception of what a football club was about.”

For Manchester City fans in the Tavern it’s a positive step, developing a manager than full understands the club’s vision and desire moving forward- rather than paying big-bucks to get in world class managers with different ideas.

They remain concerned that Arsenal could steal a march on the Frenchman though, given his legendary status in North London.

Would Vieira make a good manager for Manchester City? Let us know in the comments below!

Southampton have had a topsy-turvy season thus far and Ronald Koeman must be considering using the remaining days of this transfer window to add to his squad.

Terence Kongolo, the 21 year old Dutch centre-back, is one player that the Dutch manager should be looking at and, whilst Southampton aren’t in the relegation battle, Koeman needs to make sure that he can fix some of their defensive issues.

In this unpredictable season, the Saints will have hoped for a European charge, but the south coast club will be happy to stay in mid-table mediocrity with the way that their campaign has gone so far.

Aside from their shock thrashing of Arsenal, Southampton have had a very ordinary campaign and will be slightly concerned about their form – despite winning at Old Trafford recently.

Ronald Koeman is likely to attract the interest of big clubs, so Southampton will be hoping to make the most of their manager whilst he is still fully committed to the club.

Here are several reasons why Terence Kongolo is the ideal man for Saints…

Give Ryan a hand

Kongolo has, largely, played as left-back during this campaign. The Dutchman, who is equally adept at centre-back, would be able to cover for Ryan Bertrand at centre-back and has shown himself to be a threat down the left-wing.

Registering over a key pass per game, Kongolo will contribute to the playmaking efforts of Dusan Tadic and James Ward-Prowse.

Bold Fonte

Jose Fonte, who is the stalwart of the Southampton defence, only has a couple of years left at the highest level and Kongolo could be the ideal man to form a long-term central defensive partnership with Virgil van Dijk.

Old head, young shoulders

For a 21-year-old, Kongolo is very composed in possession and rarely loses his focus.

Averaging over 3 tackles per game, Kongolo’s role at left-back has not effected his development as a defender.

Years and years

Kongolo, who turns 22 next month, comfortably has another decade of top quality performances in him.

Defenders, unlike forwards, will often peak around 30 and Southampton could be sure to get the best out of this youngster.

Start at the back..

Any team building for long-term success needs to make sure they have the correct defensive foundations.

Kongolo would be a solid addition to the Saints back line and could build a long-term partnership with Van Dijk. There is no better proof of this point than the strength of the side’s defence when they were in their best form.