Pape Sarr has signalled that he is not willing to give up his number ten position at Tottenham without a fight, producing two impressive displays for Senegal during the international break.
Due to the injuries to James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, Thomas Frank has used Sarr as his most advanced midfielder in the first few matches of the season.
The 22-year-old has done a superb job, but the limits of having a workmanlike midfield with Sarr in front of Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur were exposed in the 1-0 loss to Bournemouth, with the home side struggling to create chances.
Speaking after the loss to the Cherries, Frank said that Xavi Simons could solve some of Tottenham’s creativity problems, but the Dutchman may not be able to walk into the starting eleven just yet.
Pape Sarr scores two goals in two matches for Senegal
While Sarr is more of a runner than someone who creates in possession, he has shown a knack for arriving at the box at the right time from the number ten role.
That was in full evidence during the international break, with the Tottenham midfielder finding the back of the net for Senegal in their 2-0 win over Sudan last week.
The Spurs man then came off the bench to score 87th a match-winner for his country against DR Congo, with Senegal completing a sensational turnaround from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
Will Xavi Simons start for Tottenham against West Ham?
In contrast to Sarr, Simons has not had a good international break, being criticised by the Dutch media for his performance against Poland last week.
In the 22-year-old’s defence, he was played out of position on the right, and Simons has already told Frank that he prefers operating as a number ten.
However, one would not be too surprised if Frank opts to start with Sarr for a tough away game at the London Stadium and introduces the Netherlands international after the hour mark.