Gallery: 5 possible replacements to finally fill Mousa Dembéle’s shoes

Mousa Dembéle, ‘collective sigh’, universally agreed to be one of the most talented players to ever grace the Tottenham first eleven and arguably the most underrated midfielder in world football.

His transfer to Guangzhou R&F in the 2018/19 January window left an enormous hole in the Tottenham squad that is still to be filled. This summer, reports have come in thick and fast surrounding potential targets for multiple positions in the starting 11.

Described as both a tank and a ballerina (The Guardian), Mousa Dembéle has been a sorely missed member of the Tottenham camp, despite their success in 2018/19. With that in mind, we’ve looked at five potential replacements to attempt to recreate the magic of Moose.

Franck Kessie

Franck Kessie
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Reports linking Milan star Franck Kessie to Tottenham have been circling as recently as this week, with Calciomercato linking him to both the red and white sides of North London.

Making 34 appearances in Serie A, Kessie cemented himself in the Milan starting 11 alongside Tiemoue Bakayoko this season.

Physically imposing and with a high level of technical ability, Kessie is a classic box-to-box midfielder in the Patrick Viera mould. Kessie’s offensive outlay of 7 goals and 2 assists last season is more than any of Spurs central midfield options managed last season. This is important to state, as Tottenham were heavily reliant on Harry Kane, Heung Min Son and Christian Eriksen for goals. In Kessie, Spurs would have a handy goal scorer from the midfield that they could rely on.

Kessie has a comparable distribution rate to Ndombele averaging 49.7 passes per game with an 87% completion rate, however, his defensive output will need some improvement if he is to fill Dembéle’s boots. With Transfermarkt valuing the Ivory Coast native at just under than £29.7million he is a more financially viable option, and Daniel Levy has been known to snag a bargain or two.

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