It wasn't too long ago that Tottenham Hotspur were competing at the forefront of the Premier League, season in, season out.
But gone are the days of Mauricio Pochettino's tenure, leading Spurs to a Champions League final and engineering a style that earned acclaim for its slickness and snap.
Ange Postecoglou is now at the helm and looks to be the perfect fit for a club desperate for a resurgence, having finished eighth last season, sacked their fourth manager in as many years and waved goodbye to club record scorer Harry Kane.
It hasn't been plain sailing (it never is) but the Australian manager has offered a glimpse of prosperity to come, with his tactical approach marrying with a rekindled astuteness in the transfer market.
Spurs transfer news – Joao Gomes
According to a report from Fla Web – via Sport Witness – Spurs are interested in signing Wolverhampton Wanderers star Joao Gomes, who has been a force in the centre of the park this season.
The report states that Tottenham will lodge a formal offer for the centre-midfielder 'very soon' after tying up deals for defender Radu Dragusin and former Chelsea forward Timo Werner.
The Old Gold have been surprisingly good this season and Gomes has been integral, with Gary O'Neil's side demanding at least €35m (£30m) to prise him away.
Joao Gomes' style of play
Liverpool were linked with a move for Gomes in 2022 but the player ultimately for Wolves from Flamengo in a £15m deal one year ago.
Scoring off the bench on his Premier League debut away against Southampton, the 22-year-old set the stone in place for a prosperous career on English shores and started seven times across the latter half of the 2022/23 campaign.
Affectionately dubbed "The Pitbull" in his Brazilian homeland – as per The Athletic's Steve Madeley – Gomes is a tough-tackling and tenacious player with an underrated passing game, with this vigour the basis of Premier League interest.
Having now cemented a spot as Wolves' engine in the middle, Gomes has started 17 matches in the English top-flight this term, completing 83% of his passes, making a key pass every two games, averaging 3.2 tackles and 5.9 ball recoveries per fixture and winning 62% of his aerial battles, as per Sofascore.
Player
Club
Matches played
Tackles
Joao Palhinha
Fulham
17 (1)
84
Vinicius Souza
Sheffield United
19 (1)
66
Joao Gomes
Wolverhampton Wanderers
17 (1)
57
Pedro Porro
Tottenham Hotspur
19
57
Emerson
West Ham United
19 (1)
54
*Sourced via premierleague.com
The constancy in his craft is surely among the chief reasons behind Postecoglou's desire, especially when Yves Bissouma – talented he may be – is proving himself unreliable on the selection front.
To his credit, Bissouma, aged 27, is among the finest defensive midfielders in the game and ranks among the top 1% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 4% for passes attempted, the top 7% for successful take-ons and the top 2% for tackles per 90, as per FBref.
The Malian midfielder, though, has picked up three suspensions in the league already and consequently missed five matches, starting 15 times.
Spurs are not quite in a quagmire – he is immensely talented and the flower of the engine room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – though this is a concern and his form has undulated as a result.
Gomes has accumulated five yellow cards in the Premier League this year and missed the defeat against Arsenal as a result, but he has refrained from any rash lunges across the past six fixtures and emits a certain composure that evades Bissouma.
Praised for his "unique" qualities – as per talent scout Jacek Kulig – the £30k-per-week titan also ranks among the top 1% of midfielders for tackles and the top 8% for blocks per 90, showcasing a skill set that could emulate the work plied by Bissouma at Tottenham.
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Should Postecoglou and co forge ahead with a move, it would surely come at the cost of Bissouma's place in the team, though if Gomes continues his meteoric rise then this might be the ruthless agenda to take, continuing the revival at the club.
