Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been fortunate sufficient to witness some nice expertise within the shirt over the previous few years. There isn’t a higher attacking midfielder than Dele.
The Englishman arrived in north London as a baby-faced 19-year-old in a deal price £5 million from MK Dons in 2015, with many supporters anticipating him to hyperlink up with the youth crew.
Nonetheless, he shortly rose to the primary crew and have become a key member of the Premier League facet, making a complete of 146 appearances in his first three years at White Hart Lane.
Dele ended up spending seven years with the Lilywhites, scoring 67 targets and offering 55 assists, profitable the PFA Younger Participant of the 12 months award for the second 12 months in a row.
He has confronted off-field struggles since leaving the membership three years in the past, and Spurs’ management has additionally struggled to discover a substitute for him, resulting in Thomas Frank signing one star to a big-money deal this summer time.
Comparability of Xavi Simons and different PL CAMs in 2025/26
Throughout the summer time switch window, Spurs have been eager to signal a brand new attacking midfielder, particularly after James Maddison suffered an anterior cruciate ligament harm within the pre-season sport in opposition to Newcastle United.
Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze have been simply two of Frank’s choices, with the previous signing a brand new cope with Nottingham Forest and the latter becoming a member of north London rivals Arsenal.
Consequently, the leaders accomplished the £52m switch of Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig, however such a deal turned out to be a catastrophe for all concerned in just some months.
The Dutch worldwide has thus far appeared in 14 video games in all competitions, however has not scored a single objective and supplied simply two assists to his team-mates.
His fundamental stats additionally spotlight his lack of constructive influence in England’s prime flight, with Simmons solely creating possibilities on common of 1.01 out of 90 video games, a dismal quantity for an attacking midfielder.
Consequently, such a tally ranks him within the backside 25% of all different midfielders within the league, with right-back Pedro Polo creating extra possibilities over the identical interval.
At simply 22 years outdated, he has loads of time to make a change in his profession below Frank, however there is no such thing as a doubt he wants to take action quickly, particularly given the type of different gamers in current months.
Spurs star who may very well be the subsequent Dele
No. 10 at Spurs is a place that nobody has secured since Dele’s departure, and Simmons has an extended strategy to go earlier than he approaches the extent the Englishman has produced.
However the Dutchman will definitely have to chop some slack as he takes time to adapt to a totally new nation, tradition and elegance of soccer in North London.
His mixed tally of 19 targets and assists within the Bundesliga reveals he has a proficient participant, however finally it would take time for him to succeed in his full potential.
The Lilywhites’ hierarchy may need been higher off ready for an additional younger expertise to return by their ranks and earn the suitable to a daily starter’s function in a first-team setting.
Luca Williams-Barnett is undoubtedly a participant to look at for all supporters, with the 17-year-old already having a complete of 12 targets and assists in simply eight video games for the Underneath-21s.
Nonetheless, the 20-year-old star is already making large waves within the skilled sport, and the membership may have already got landed their subsequent Dele within the type of attacking midfielder Tyrese Corridor.
Like Williams-Barnett, he loved nice success at Underneath-21 degree final season, earlier than becoming a member of League Two facet Notts County on a season-long mortgage in 2025/26.
Such a spell is his first expertise of senior soccer, however Corridor is accustomed to it like a duck to water, as his spectacular six targets in his first 16 video games for the Magpies reveals.
His newest efficiency in opposition to Cheltenham City was a win for Martin Patterson’s facet, with coach Harry Brooks claiming he has “precisely the profile that Spurs are lacking” below Frank.
Tyrese Corridor – Notts County Stats (25/26) | |
|---|---|
Statistics (each 90) | tally |
video games performed | 16 |
targets and assists | 7 |
Cross completion fee | 78% |
A chance has arisen | 1.9 |
dribbling success | 53% |
shot on track | 1.1 |
sort out win | 2.8 |
gained a duel | 6.1 |
Statistics by FotMob | |
Corridor has already attracted consideration at Meadow Lane along with his wonderful dribbling potential, which led to him changing 53% of his take-up makes an attempt and subsequently creating 1.9 possibilities per 90.
Evaluating him to Dele could also be an enormous comparability, but when Corridor can proceed his present trajectory with a mortgage transfer to the Magpies, it actually may occur.
Dele made a reputation for himself throughout his time with MK Dons within the EFL, and ten years later a younger Spurs participant did precisely the identical. So I would not be shocked if Corridor turns into the participant who takes north London by storm within the close to future.
