Will Tottenham regret missing out on Dortmund’s explosive forward?

There was a flurry of transfer activity at Tottenham this summer with £105million worth of talent coming through the gate at White Hart Lane. However, the sale of Gareth Bale meant income balanced out the expenditure at the club in a remarkable summer.

They added Roberto Soldado to their striking options but before his goal at the weekend, he had failed to score from open play in the Premier League. One player that would have added significant quality to their striking department would have been Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Now there is no question that the Gabon international would have adapted to the pace of the Premier League straight away. He possesses lightning acceleration that would cause even the best  defences major trouble as proved on his Dortmund debut. He scored a hat-trick against Augsburg to announce himself to German football in his first game for Jurgen Klopp.

Aubameyang was used predominantly on the right of their attack but was given licence to drift across the pitch. His passing map shows off his ability to pick up the ball in advanced areas all over the pitch and produce a key pass. In this game he completed two key passes and completed 92% of his total passes.

But of course it was his three goals on his debut that stood out as Aubameyang showed off his pace to get into goal-scoring positions and precision in front of goal to finish chances. All three of his goals were scored inside the box, proving that whilst he is the perfect striker to stretch defences, he also has the positional sense to find space to score.

Barring the 6-2 drubbing of Hamburg when he scored twice, Aubameyang has failed to score in any other game but his tally of five goals in nine appearances marks a superb start to his career at Dortmund.

Seen as he has been played on the right-hand side of the attack, you would normally expect your winger to be creative but Aubameyang has made just six chances so far this season. This shows that he is more of a striker, who likes to run in behind defences, than a midfielder who likes to play passes through a defence to a team-mate.

The Gabonese attacker has also struggled when trying to dribble past defenders, winning just 47% of his take-ons this season. This, again, shows that he is a natural striker.

 

Spurs have Soldado and Jermain Defoe at the club who are capable of scoring plenty of goals. However, there is no doubt that Aubameyang would have given them a fantastic alternative option. His ability to run in behind would have cause some of the less mobile defences in the Premier League all sorts of problems and his link-up play is arguably slightly superior to Soldado’s. Spurs would have played him in his natural position too because they are already spoilt for choice on the right wing.

But, in terms of Spurs regretting not signing him, I don’t think that is the case.