Vincent Janssen will find it almost impossible to play his way back into Mauricio Pochettino’s plans at Tottenham, according to respected journalist Alasdair Gold.
The Dutchman has yet to play a minute of senior football this season and, despite returning to first team training recently, does not appear to be in his manager’s plans, with Gold insisting the only way he will get any meaningful game time in a shock return to the senior setup is through an injury crisis.
During a Q&A for Football.London, Spurs correspondent Gold said: “I’d be stunned if he does [make a first team comeback].
“For me he’s fifth choice striker at the club behind Kane, Llorente, Son and Moura.
“Spurs’ failure to move him on this summer has created this weird scenario where Pochettino had to go back on his comments about it being ‘impossible’ for Janssen to get back into his squad to suddenly returning to first team training.
“Unless the Dutchman suddenly turns into the next Messi in training or there is an injury crisis of epic proportions, a minute or two at the end of a match if there’s a pile-up of fixtures because Spurs advanced to the latter stages of the Champions League is probably the best he can hope for.”
OPINION
It’s hard to envisage any situation in which Janssen can go on to have a sustained and successful Tottenham career from this point. The Dutchman is clearly unfenced by his manager, and lies so down far the pecking order that the only logical next step is for him to leave the club. Janssen is not a bad player at all, and he could do a fine job for somebody, but he has never really settled into the English game, and surely his future lies elsewhere. It was perhaps a bit of surprise that he wasn’t move on in the summer or last month, but now it seems certain that he will leave north London during the next transfer window. It’s not necessarily a reflection on him, but Spurs have juts been one step too far for him. Maybe a move back to the Netherlands, where he was so successful before, would be a prudent next move for the striker.