After acquiring Victor Wanyama, Vincent Janssen and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou this summer, Tottenham completed their transfer business with a deadline day move for Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko, signing the France international for a reported fee of £30 million.
The 27-year-old put pen to paper on a five-year deal with Spurs after rejecting an offer from Everton, and speaking to the club’s official website about the move, Sissoko revealed the lure of Champions League football was a big factor behind his thinking, while he gave an insight into what Tottenham fans can expect from their latest signing:
“I am in the prime of my career and I want to play for a big team, I have the chance now with Tottenham so I’m looking forward and I hope we will do well in the Premier League and in the Champions League also. I’ve said a lot of times that I want to play in the Champions League so that’s one of the reasons why I came here – to have the possibility and the chance to play this year… I like to run forward, I like power and I have a lot of energy which I can bring to the team. I am happy to be here at this big club and I hope we will all have a good season.”
The History
At the age of 13, Sissoko joined the academy of French club Toulouse, and after impressing for the reserves, made his professional debut as a 17-year-old against Valenciennes in August 2007.
He took little time to establish himself in the first-team squad, and ended the 2007/08 campaign having made 30 league appearances, scoring one goal.
Sissoko emerged as the star of the Toulouse side over the following years, and showed plenty of loyalty to the club, staying with them until January 2013, when he joined Newcastle for a fee of around just £1.5 million, with the midfielder only having six months remaining on his contract.
During his time at the French side, Sissoko totalled 23 goals and 15 assists from 219 matches in all competitions.
In his first six months on Tyneside, Sissoko played predominantly as an attacking midfielder, and scored three goals and provided one assist in 12 league matches.
During the 2013/14 campaign, he played more often on the right side of midfield, but posted less impressive numbers, managing just three goals and six assists in 35 league appearances.
Over the last two seasons, Sissoko only netted five times in 71 Premier League matches, although he did register eight assists last season, thanks largely to playing in more advanced midfield roles. His performances were generally disappointing, though, and he couldn’t help prevent Newcastle from relegation to the Championship.
Earmarked for success from a young age, Sissoko represented France at every youth level from Under 16 upwards, making 46 appearances in total, scoring three goals. He was handed a senior debut against the Faroe Islands in October 2009, and represented his country at both the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016. The midfielder has played 44 times for France up to this point, registering one goal and four assists.
The Prospects
With Tottenham adding Nkoudou and Sissoko to their squad at the end of the transfer window, manager Mauricio Pochettino looks to have the depth needed for Spurs to fight on all fronts this season.
After seeing his side draw at home to Liverpool in Gameweek 3, the Uruguayan’s comments were telling.
With the club set embark on their first Champions League campaign since the 2010/11 season, Pochettino reckoned his side were desperately seeking an injection of pace on the flanks:
“We need a player who is more direct, more aggressive offensively. Because we have players like Eriksen, Son or Lamela who like the ball played into their feet. So we need someone who has characteristics like we saw from Liverpool, like Sadio Mane, the type of player that can break the defensive line. I’m not talking about kicking or punching someone, only running and having the right mentality.”
The 27-year-old will be expected to play either on the right of an attacking midfield trio in the Argentine’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, or in the double-pivot alongside a holding midfield player.
The fact that Sissoko has never scored more than four times in a Premier League season highlights his lack of goal threat, although he did total 57 key passes last term, the same number as Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Having already seen the impact Janssen has made on the roles Kane and Alli, it appears the arrival of Sissoko could be equally detrimental to the minutes of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembele as they look to cope with the added European matches.
Whereas last season the Argentine kept a settled starting XI, it appears inevitable he will chop and change to a greater degree this time around in the hope of avoiding the burnout that saw them stumble across the finishing line in 2015/16.
Sissoko’s price tag also harms his appeal as a Fantasy asset – he comes in at 7.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) despite mustering total of 109, 103 and 110 points over the last three seasons.
Tottenham’s fixture list (sto, SUN, mid, MCI, wba, bou) is fairly favourable in the short-term, but for now it’s difficult to be certain on who offers the best route into the Spurs attack, with Kane looking short of his best form and not offering great value if he’s deployed in the number ten role behind Janssen.
Essentially, the new signings afford Pochettino far greater leeway for rotation in a number of positions, damaging the prospects of all Tottenham’s attackers. Sissoko looks one to avoid for now, then, particularly when secure midfield starters such as Michail Antonio, Santi Cazorla, Ross Barkley and Marko Arnautovic are all under the 8.0-mark and offer some promising fixtures to follow.
