Biggest waste since Werner: Spurs must regret signing £150k-per-week flop
Many years later, English football will look back fondly at Ange Postecoglou. The Australian tactician ended Tottenham Hotspur’s agonising search for silverware, after all.
But Postecoglou’s tenure was anything but smooth sailing, and though Thomas Frank’s style of play has withdrawn some of the electric attacking play that ‘Ange-ball’ injected in north London, with the 7.4 xG (expected goals) total thus far showing plenty to be desired on that front.
Still, it’s hard to argue that the moves made in the transfer market weren’t positive. Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United for £55m is a fantastic piece of business, and he is proving his worth on the pitch.
Xavi Simons is probably the summer showpiece, even if he hasn’t quite clicked into gear yet. The Dutch playmaker is capable both centrally and out wide, with his right-footed preference lending itself to a place on the left flank when needed.
That left-hand side is an area Frank will hope to work on, having sold legendary skipper Heung-min Son to LAFC for £20m in August.
In spite of this, Spurs didn’t see fit to purchase Timo Werner on a permanent basis, with the German’s two-year loan at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ending rather meekly.
Timo Werner's time at Spurs
Tottenham signed former Chelsea striker Werner on loan from RB Leipzig in January 2024, with Postecoglou in need of an extra dimension in attack. It was a divisive move, but one which proved shrewd enough, Werner scoring twice and laying on four assists across ten Premier League starts in 2023/24.
Fleet-footed and slippery down the left channel, Werner did his job, creating 1.2 chances per game and earning praise from Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson for his “lightning-quick” pace.
The first phase of this Tottenham duology was a decent enough effort, but as with so many unnecessary sequels, Werner’s second season down N17 saw him flatter to deceive, anonymous throughout the second phase of the season after offering very little initially.
Savvy operators, Spurs initially had an option to buy Werner for £15m at the end of the 2023/24 season, but instead engineered an extension of that loan stay. Under the new agreement, an £8.5m purchase option was inserted.
Was this a good move? In hindsight, Tottenham fans would say that it was not. Last December, the 29-year-old was hauled off at half-time against Rangers in the Europa League, and Ange said post-match that the forward’s performance “wasn’t acceptable”, with his body language and application leaving much to be desired.
Wrapping up his time in north London with a return of three goals and seven assists across 41 matches in all competitions, it’s hard to brand Werner as anything other than a failure, having contributed little during the early stage of the European campaign, when he did actually earn some minutes.
Even with three assists from only four Premier League starts in 2024/25 (18 league appearances all told), Werner’s underlying performances did little to suggest he was up to scratch, with Sofascore recording he won just 1.2 ground duels per game, missing two big chances and taking a paucity of shots.
There are fears, even with all the good that is being done under Frank’s guidance this season, that Tottenham have repeated an unwanted trick and signed their next version of the German flop.
Spurs' new version of Werner
On transfer deadline day, when Tottenham beat off competition across the continent to sign Randal Kolo Muani from Paris Saint-Germain, it was regarded as a coup for a dynamic and dangerous forward.
The 26-year-old is contracted to the English outfit on a season-long loan deal with no option or obligation to buy.
Hailed as a “superstar” by German legend Lothar Matthaus, the £150k-per-week forward has hit highs and lows in recent years, but he impressed with Juventus last season and was the subject of interest from Spurs only in January, holding talks to sign him but ultimately missing out.
However, injuries have not been kind to the Les Bleus star across the opening months of the season, with the Champions League win over Villarreal the extent of his time on the field so far. Only 13 minutes of action is what he played.
His career has been somewhat up and down, but Kolo Muani undoubtedly has the talent and potential to succeed in the Premier League, though, aged 26, it’s important that he makes a convincing start to life at Tottenham when he does return from his current setback.
If not, the high-salary, injury-prone ace might find himself entering some conversations that liken him to Werner, whose Champions League triumph with Chelsea and prolific returns during his first spell with Leipzig led him to be regarded as an elite talent.
Kolo Muani, too, has enjoyed his most fruitful returns in Germany, hitting 23 goals and 17 assists across the 2022/23 campaign for Eintracht Frankfurt before earning a £73m transfer to the French capital, where the wheels stopped spinning.
Looking across the past 12 months, though, there’s little question that Kolo Muani has the talent to bring it all together. However, much more is needed. And the need at Tottenham for him to do just that is becoming quite significant as Richarlison and Dominic Solanke toil.
Randal Kolo Muani (past 365 days)
Stats
Per 90
Percentile
Goals scored
0.50
Top 33%
Assists
0.13
Top 48%
Shots taken
2.26
Top 58%
Touches (att pen)
6.10
Top 16%
Shot-creating actions
2.26
Top 45%
Pass completion (%)
69.7
Top 58%
Progressive passes
1.45
Top 61%
Progressive carries
1.57
Top 31%
Successful take-ons
1.32
Top 12%
Ball recoveries
2.20
Top 54%
Tackles + interceptions
1.01
Top 33%
Data via FBref
Final judgement will, of course, be reserved until the Frenchman has ample Premier League experience under his belt, but there’s little question that he has started off on the wrong footing.
His only saving grace is that Frank’s frontline have struggled for quality so far this season, and if he can rekindle the fitness and form that saw him hit such heights on loan with Juventus last term, Kolo Muani may be able to avoid falling toward a reputation as Tottenham’s next version of Werner.
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