Tottenham Hotspur currently lead the race to sign a ‘smart’ midfielder from a Champions League club, having overtaken many of their Premier League rivals in the race.
Spurs have had to reorganize their midfield due to a lack of forward passing.
Sky Sports analyst Nick Wright recently called for Tottenham to restructure their midfield following their poor performance, which saw them draw 0-0 with AS Monaco in the Champions League and lose 2-1 to Aston Villa.
Against the French side, Spurs’ midfield duo of Rodrigo Bentancur and João Parinha directed just seven of their combined 58 passes, picking off Richarlison three times and failing to feed substitute Randal Kolo Muani once.
Creativity issues were also exposed against Villa, with the pair directing 15 of their 79 passes forward, indicating Thomas Frank needs to recalibrate his midfield options or bring in new players in January or the summer.
According to a report in the Record (via Sport Witness), Tottenham are currently leading the race to sign Sporting CP midfielder Morten Hjurmand, who has attracted widespread interest from the Premier League, with the likes of Man United and Manchester City also keen.
Sporting are hoping to make an offer for Yulmando in the January transfer window, but given that the Portuguese club plans to stick to the €80 million release clause in his current contract, it may take a huge offer to get him over the line.
It is unclear whether the north Londoner is willing to make an approach this winter, and considering the midfielder’s contract runs until 2028, Sporting are still in a good position in negotiations, but there are plenty of signs that he could be worth pursuing…
‘Intellectual’ Hjormand may be just what Frank needs
As mentioned above, Tottenham struggle to advance the ball up the pitch, but Sporting’s star is a very impressive ball-passer and tends to advance the ball into more advanced areas.
statistics | Average per 90 people (past year) |
Number of pass attempts | 62.70 (87th percentile) |
Pass completion rate | 90% (95th percentile) |
progressive path | 6.51 (83rd percentile) |
The passmaster has started to prove himself at the top level again this season, earning a SofaScore match rating of 7.6 in his team’s 2-1 Champions League defeat to Marseille earlier this month, the highest of any Sporting player.
According to scout Ben Mattinson, the Denmark international is not only good at retaining the ball, but is also solid from a defensive standpoint. “Yurmand is a defensively smart midfielder who reads the game at a high level. He has great expectations and can read the opponent’s next attacking moves.”
So it’s clear the Tottenham manager needs another option in the engine room, and Yurmand could be the ideal addition to Frank’s squad.