It’s been an odd campaign for Tottenham Hotspur this season.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have been absolutely ravaged by injuries all year, which, alongside some already spotty form from the end of last season, has seen their results in the Premier League vary wildly from week to week.
It wasn’t too long ago that picking up a win looked an impossible task, yet all of a sudden, they picked up their third league victory on the bounce on Saturday, which goes to show that, when fit, the North Londoners do have a lot of talent within their squad.
Ipswich Town (A)
4-1 (W)
Manchester Utd (H)
1-0 (W)
Brentford (A)
2-0 (W)
Leicester City (H)
2-1 (L)
Everton (A)
3-2 (L)
In fact, one of their more promising players has recently been compared to one of the most exciting and valuable midfielders in Europe and looks to be one of their recent rare successful acquisitions from Ligue 1.
Spurs' poor record buying from Ligue 1
It’s too soon to cast a definitive judgment on Kevin Danso’s Spurs’ future, but it would be fair to say that the Lilywhites do not have a particularly good track record when it comes to signing players from Ligue 1.
The most notable example of this has to be Tanguy Ndombele, who joined the club for around £63m from Lyon in the summer of 2019 and did so to a lot of fanfare.
Unfortunately, instead of helping to revolutionise the North Londoners’ midfield, the Frenchman became arguably their biggest flop, making just 91 appearances for the team between the 19/20 and 21/22 campaigns, and going out on three loan moves before joining OGC Nice for free in July 2024.
A cheaper flop was Serge Aurier, who joined the club from Paris Saint-Germain for around £23m in the summer of 2017 as a replacement for Kyle Walker.
The trouble-making right-back managed to get himself sent off in his first Premier League start for the club, was described as generally “erratic” by Spurs icon Teddy Sheringham, and then, in the club’s 2021 League Cup final, gave away the free-kick that saw Manchester City score the winner, which also happened to be his final game for the North Londoners, and saw Jamie Carragher describe him as “one of the biggest liabilities in Premier League football.”
The unfortunate truth is that there are even more names you could bring up as examples of bad signings Tottenham have made from Ligue over the years, such as Clinton N’Jie, who made just 14 appearances for the club, or Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, who scored one goal and provided two assists in 27 games.
However, there are some examples in which Spurs managed to find a gem in the French top-flight, which they did a couple of years ago, and now have a player compared to one of the most valuable midfielders in Europe.
The Spurs ace who's a big-money star in the making
Tottenham are lucky to have a handful of incredibly exciting and promising youngsters on their books at the moment, from the academy superstar Mikey Moore to signings like Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall.
However, just a few years older is Pape Matar Sarr, who might have a little less time to reach the heady heights of a world-class midfielder but is nonetheless an exceptional talent and, as things stand, a successful signing from Ligue 1.
The 22-year-old “monster,” as dubbed by GOAL’s Mitch Fretton, joined the Lilywhites from FC Metz for around £15m in August 2021 and, after spending the 21/22 season back on loan with the Lorraine-based outfit, has already amassed 87 appearances for the North Londoners, in which he’s scored eight goals and provided six assists while playing in central and defensive midfield.
Moreover, the “unplayable” midfielder, as dubbed by Spurs fan and podcaster Lee McQueen, has also won flattering comparisons to Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde.
They stem from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Uruguayan is the tenth most similar midfielder to the Lilywhites ace.
Expected Assisted Goals
0.10
0.09
Assists
0.14
0.13
Passing Accuracy
87.2%
89.1%
Goal-Creating Actions
0.42
0.43
Passes Blocked
0.92
0.94
Clearances
1.20
1.33
Carries
41.3
43.1
The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, expected assisted goals, actual assists, passing accuracy, goal-creating actions, clearances, carries and more, all per 90.
On top of the general encouragement that should come from a comparison to the Real Madrid star, the North Londoners should also be excited about what this could mean for the Senegalese star’s future price tag.
For example, according to Football Transfers, the multi-Champions League winner is currently worth up to €123.8m, which converts to around £103m, and while the former Metz star isn’t worth that today, who’s to say he won’t reach that valuation in the future if he is already so statistically similar to Valverde.
Ultimately, Spurs haven’t had the best track record when it comes to signing players from France over the last decade or so, but in Sarr, it looks like they have very much bucked the trend and have a future star on their hands.
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