Things have escalated since then, although Tottenham Hotspur were already in the mire heading into the January window, in need of a fresh spark to lift proceedings.
Four years earlier, with Newcastle United at risk of relegation, the new ownership regime brought in the likes of Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes, three men who instantly lifted the standards at St James’ Park.
In Spurs’ case, the decision to fork out almost £35m on Conor Gallagher as the sole winter purchase remains a head-scratching one, particularly with the Lilywhites so short on depth in other departments, including on the flanks.
New boss Roberto De Zerbi was full of praise for the Englishman following his arrival in the dugout, although there was no immediate revival on Sunday, with Gallagher needing to be taken out of the firing line.
Gallagher is no longer the player De Zerbi “loved” at Chelsea
Speaking ahead of Tottenham’s trip to Wearside, De Zerbi singled out Gallagher as one of the players he was excited to work with, suggesting he was keen to see the 26-year-old return to the player he “loved” at Stamford Bridge.
In the midfielder’s final year with the Blues back in 2023/24, he was a key cog in Mauricio Pochettino’s team, lining up in a number eight or even advanced midfield role, scoring and assisting 12 goals in the Premier League that season.
Once described as being “like [N’Golo] Kante with goals” by pundit Tony Cascarino, there looked to be so many strings to his bow, an all-action, relentless midfield presence who also had that box-crashing, goalscoring knack to his game.
As was evident at the weekend, however, Gallagher looks a shadow of that player these days, having registered just one assist and failed to score in his first ten Premier League games back in England.
Lining up alongside Archie Gray against the Black Cats, the former Atletico Madrid man didn’t win a single tackle, won just three of his seven duels and provided only a solitary key pass, having struggled to provide any sort of attacking inspiration in that 85-minute outing.
|
Gallagher vs Sunderland |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Record |
|
Minutes |
85 |
|
Touches |
48 |
|
Pass rate |
87% |
|
Key passes |
1 |
|
Ball lost |
7 |
|
Carries |
13 |
|
Succ. dribbles |
1/2 |
|
Tackles |
0 |
|
Ground duels |
2/5 |
|
Aerial duels |
1/2 |
In those ten games so far, he has yet to create a single ‘big chance’, and averages just 0.8 key passes per game, hardly hitting the ground running as would be expected for a player of his prior Premier League experience.
With the visit of De Zerbi’s former club Brighton and Hove Albion next on the agenda, the Italian could well shake things up in the centre of the park.
De Zerbi could replace Gallagher with Spurs’ Carrick & Modric hybrid
Thankfully for De Zerbi, if there is one area that Spurs do have depth, it is in midfield, with Joao Palhinha and Pape Matar Sarr having both been involved off the bench at the weekend, with Yves Bissouma part of the matchday squad.
The next Paul Gascoigne could finally end Simons’ Spurs career
Spurs may already have the perfect replacement for Xavi Simons.
If the ex-Marseille boss is looking for a direct replacement for Gallagher, as the new partner for Gray, he might well look to the returning Rodrigo Bentancur instead, with the Uruguayan back in first-team training this week.
Like most in north London, Bentancur has endured an injury-hit few years at the club, notably seeing 2022/23 and 2023/24 disrupted by a cruciate ligament tear, while also restricted to just 28 appearances this season following a recent hamstring injury.
The 28-year-old didn’t actually feature at all under Igor Tudor, with his last league outing coming against Bournemouth back in January, having evidently been missed in his absence.
Indeed, the Lilywhites haven’t won any of the 11 top-flight matches since then, with Bentancur having previously started 17 of the 21 games prior to that.
That’s not to say that Spurs weren’t beginning to slump even with the South American in the side, although the drop off in his absence has been stark, having notably bettered Gallagher across a string of metrics in the Premier League this season.
|
Bentancur vs Gallagher – 25/26 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Bentancur |
Stat (*per game) |
Gallagher |
|
20 |
Games |
10 |
|
1 |
Goals |
0 |
|
1 |
Assists |
1 |
|
85% |
Pass accuracy* |
81% |
|
1.1 |
Interceptions* |
1.1 |
|
1.9 |
Tackles* |
1.0 |
|
5.0 |
Recoveries* |
3.8 |
|
52% |
Total duels won* |
45% |
|
0.7 |
Succ. dribbles* |
0.6 |
|
7.6 |
Ball lost* |
9.1 |
At his best, the former Juventus man is such an asset as a silky, yet combative presence in his deep-lying role, with that classy approach having even seen him likened to both Luka Modric and Michael Carrick in the past by Sky Sports’ Michael Bridge.
“He’s just got such a great glide, he’s just such a clever footballer… he’s a proper player and he’s got a bit of [Michael] Carrick about him, a bit of [Luka] Modric.”
With a goal threat akin to Modric, having scored ten times for the club to date, Bentancur also mirrors Carrick in being something of a midfield pillar in front of the back four, proving far less erratic in possession than Gallagher.
While De Zerbi may be wary of rushing him back into action, it is a case of needs must with only six games left of the season, with the hope being that Bentancur can prove the difference when it comes to beating the drop or not.
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