White Hart Lane side show interest in Stamford Bridge keeper.
Tottenham have seen their push for a Champions League berth all but ended, but this will not prevent Mauricio Pochettino making prominent moves in the summer transfer market.
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According to the Metro, the White Hart Lane outfit are preparing a £10m bid for keeper Petr Cech.
Cech has had to get used to a bench warming role this season and is too good a keeper to be left out in the cold. At 32 years of age, it’s not a situation he is going to want to experience in the long term.
“I don’t know what the club’s idea will be,” Cech was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror in March.
“It looks like it works well with me and Thibaut as a duo. But that can work for one season only. I don’t want another one like this.”
The Metro believe that Pochettino sees Cech as a potential replacement for Hugo Lloris, with the Frenchman being strongly linked with a move to Manchester United.
Interest in Cech would appear to suggest that Pochettino doesn’t see current second choice Spurs man Michel Vorm as a first team regular; as further illustration, the Dutch keeper has made just three Premier League starts since moving to White Hart Lane in July 2014.
The likely lack of Champions League action may well leave Pochettino having to adjust his transfer plans, though Cech may be swayed by the promise of regular first team action regardless of the lack of a berth in Europe’s showpiece tournament.
Signing Cech would likely suggest a change in playing style for Spurs though.
Lloris plays something of a sweeper keeper role for Tottenham, like Manuel Neuer at Bayern Munich (albeit to not quite the same extreme). The Frenchman possesses great pace, and is proactive when the ball is played beyond his defensive line, often leaving his area to claim possession.
Cech is more of an orthodox keeper who commands his area excellently, but can struggle behind a high line – as his record under Andre Villas-Boas proves.
In 37 matches under Mourinho’s former deputy, Cech conceded 39 goals at a rate of 1.05 per match. That’s a big contrast to Cech’s 194 games in two spells under Jose Mourinho, which have resulted in the concession of just 126 goals, which averages out at 0.65 per game.
Of course, there are a range of metrics to consider, but the starkest memory of AVB’s reign is the 3-5 defeat to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, when the Blues’ high line was breached by the Gunners’ attack time and time again.
Should Tottenham sign Cech, Pochettino will need to either have his defence drop a bit deeper – or make sure he plays defenders with great recovery speed. Jan Vertonghen is quick, but Federico Fazio – who has played the next most of Spurs’ centre backs – is not particularly blessed with pace.
Regardless, Cech has proved in his fleeting appearances this term that he is not over the hill yet, and the importance of having someone who has won everything in the club game in the dressing room cannot be overstated.