While they certainly didn’t help themselves, the biggest problem for Tottenham Hotspur last season was injuries.
Ange Postecoglou had to make do with a cobbled-together squad for much of the campaign, and when he did have his players back, they won the Europa League.
Arguably, the biggest miss for the Lilywhites was Cristian Romero, who missed 27 games before playing a pivotal role in the club’s first trophy triumph in 17 years.
The World Cup winner will undoubtedly be one of Thomas Frank’s most important players this season, and so fans should be delighted about reports linking the club to an international who has been compared to him, as well as Gabriel Magalhães.
Spurs target Romero and Gabriel hybrid
It’s been an interesting summer for Spurs so far regarding transfers, as while their pursuit of Morgan Gibbs-White hasn’t borne any fruit, they’ve bought in several other potential game-changers.
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For example, while he wasn’t cheap, Mohammed Kudus could help turn the Lilywhites into a far more dangerous side, while Joao Palhinha has the ability to make them a far tougher side to break down.
Moreover, the North Londoners appear keen on adding at least one more player to their ranks before the window slams shut, a player who has been compared to Romero and Gabriel.
At least that’s according to a recent report from Sebastien Vidal, who claims that Spurs are very interested in Ronald Araujo, who is valued at £43m.
In fact, the journalist goes further, revealing that the Lilywhites are “expected” to make their first official approach for the Barcelona star as soon as “next week.”
It could be a complicated and relatively costly transfer to get done, but Araujo has proven he’d be worth it, especially as he’s been compared to Romero and Gabriel.
How Araujo compares to Romero & Gabriel
Now, there are several quite surface-level similarities you can point to between Araujo, Gabriel and Romero, such as them all being South American defenders who play for their nations, the fact they all play for top sides in one of Europe’s top five leagues, or that none of them are the kind of defender who gets bullied off the ball easily.
However, thanks to FBref, we know that there are also some undeniable statistical similarities between them as they looked at all centre-backs across the top five leagues and, over the last 365 days, the Arsenal star comes in as the third most similar to the Barça ace, while the Spurs titan ranks as the ninth most similar.
You can gain a better understanding of how these comparisons were made by examining the underlying numbers in which the Uruguayan ranked closely to the two Premier League monsters.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals
0.11
0.10
Passing Accuracy
91.9%
90.2%
Key Passes
0.48
0.49
Passes into the Penalty Area
0.36
0.30
Goal-Creating Actions
0.24
0.23
Interestingly, when it comes to the Gunners’ ace, the Rivera-born star doesn’t actually rank all that closely in the defensive metrics, and instead shares plenty of the Brazilian’s offensive qualities, from non-penalty expected goals to key passes and goal-creating actions, all per 90.
However, when it comes to the Lilywhites ace, the metrics include offensive and defensive statistics, such as interceptions, percentage of aerial duels won, tackles in the middle third, key passes and more, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals
0.11
0.10
Interceptions
1.07
1.34
Aerial Duels Won %
62.3%
60.3%
Tackles in the Middle Third
0.60
0.51
Key Passes
0.48
0.45
Progressive Carries
0.71
0.76
With all that said, while comparisons to two of the best defenders in the world’s toughest league are certainly encouraging, there are other arguments for why the North Londoners should be all over a deal for the former Boston River star, such as his experience.
For example, despite still being just 26 years old, and therefore a year out from hitting his peak, according to research from The Athletic, the “athletic monster,” as dubbed by analyst Raj Chohan, has made 175 appearances for Barcelona, of which 141 have been starts, and he’s racked up a pretty good tally of ten goals and seven assists in those games.
On top of that, he has also helped the Spanish giants win two La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys and two Super Cups, which makes it easy to understand why legendary centre-back Carles Puyol once described him as “one of the best defenders in the world.”
Ultimately, even though it could be a complicated transfer to get over the line, Spurs should be doing what they can to secure Araujo’s services, especially as he’s something of a hybrid between Romero and Gabriel.
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