On the latest episode of Tottenham Hotspur podcast The Extra Inch, Chris Miller and Nathan Clark discussed the latest-goings on at the North London club and looked back on Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Manchester United last Friday.
One topic of conversation on the podcast, which was titled ‘Bergwijn’s Poise, Crowd Noise, Fully COYS‘, was Spurs’ Portuguese midfielder Gedson Fernandes. The 21-year-old, who joined on an 18-month loan from Benfica in the January transfer window, featured as a substitute during Friday’s draw.
However, it appears as if both Miller and Clark are confused as to why he was signed in the first place, and why he was coming on ahead of the likes of Tanguy Ndombele against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Miller provoked a discussion of the midfielder by saying:
“I was hoping to see [Tanguy] Ndombele come on, we could have given him a relatively free role in terms of defensive responsibility, with the setup we had, he could have played the Lamela role, and instead we brought on the Portuguese Josh Onomah.”
Clark then offered his opinion on the 21-year-old, saying:
“He isn’t great. He’s a kid, and he will go on and have a perfectly good professional career in Portugal or whatever. But he’s such a weird, weird signing and I get that it’s a financial thing and it’s just getting legs into the squad. For that reason, he’s the last player I want to see on the pitch, who isn’t ours [and] will never be a Champions League-level player.”
TIF Thoughts…
It is perhaps harsh of Clark to suggest that Fernandes will never make it as a Champions League player, as he has featured regularly in that competition for Benfica in the past (per WhoScored). However, the 21-year-old certainly hasn’t set the world alight since joining Spurs in the January window, having made just five substitute appearances for the Lilywhites in the Premier League, averaging a 6.17 rating (per WhoScored).
Is Fernandes good enough to be a Spurs regular?
Yes
No
The Portuguese midfielder struggled to have much impact in his brief cameo against Manchester United, as Miller suggests, earning a 5.99 rating for his 20 or so minutes on the pitch (per WhoScored). Perhaps, with a full pre-season under his belt, the £12.15 million-rated man will be able to improve his performances next season and prove to fans why he was signed in the first place, otherwise, you imagine Spurs may not take up their option to make his loan signing a permanent one.