The Athletic journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke has suggested that Tottenham midfielder Victor Wanyama has “been finished for two years”.
The £65,000-a-week Kenyan international [Spotrac] came on in the 67th minute of his side’s 2-1 defeat to Leicester City on Saturday.
Spurs were still 1-0 up when he was introduced.
And writing in a Q&A for the Athletic, Pitt-Brooke slammed his contribution to proceedings.
He said: “Sign of desperation isn’t it [bringing Wanyama on] – he’s been finished for two years.
“Only made things worse.”
Is this a fair assessment from Pitt-Brooke?
Finished is such a harsh word.
It evokes mental images of footballers on crutches or creaking their way through testimonials and lower league slugfests that would, at one time, have been considered far beneath them.
So to hear a respected journalist like Pitt-Brooke use it so unerringly really resonates and leaves a mark.
The sad reality is, however, is that he is probably at least partially correct.
Wanyama may not be finished completely, but he is surely finished as a Spurs player.
He hasn’t made it into double figures for Premier League starts in North London since 2016/17, and that has had a really negative impact on his form in a white shirt.
He hasn’t been a positive contributor in quite some time, and Pitt-Brooke is probably correct.
Moreover, his cameo against the Foxes will have done little to endear him to fans.
23 minutes produced nothing defensively positive, with his only telling impact being a foul he conceded, as per Whoscored.
As Pitt-Brooke alludes to, his introduction did feel like a last ditch throw of the dice from Mauricio Pochettino more than anything else, and while that shouldn’t necessarily be held against the player himself, the fact that he is been so heavily derided after such a short spell on the pitch should really speak volumes as to where his future lies.
Simply put, it is not at Spurs.