West Bromwich Albion have announced the £13m record signing of Nacer Chadli from Tottenham Hotspur. He has signed a four-year contract at the club.
Nacer Chadli Signs with West Brom
Impact on Spurs
Chadli was always leaving. 27 + shown little sign of improvement. Son only goes if big offer + will be reinvested. https://t.co/7RmgIGTr6V
— Lyall Thomas (@SkySportsLyall) August 29, 2016
Chadli has made 119 appearances, scoring 25 goals. This record is quite disappointing and points towards his failure at the club. Indeed, at 27, he should be reaching his peak, but his latest performances have been less than convincing. Maurico Pochettino had lost favour with him, though. Not even present on the bench, it seems his career had been up for a while.
It’s important that Spurs utilise their financial resources wisely, due to the new stadium. Therefore, shipping out a mediocre player such as him may well benefit the club. This is because a younger player like Joshua Onomah can get more match time. Or, it can allow other transfers to go through. For example, the long awaited Georges-Kevin Nkoudou deal.
If Spurs are selling Chadli, N’Jie and Son and only signing N’Koudou then we’re all totally allowed to hurl toys out of the pram. Poch included.
— Charlie Parrish (@charlieparrish) August 29, 2016
However, the concern for most Spurs fans is the lack of depth. Suddenly, there seems to be another firesale at White Hart Lane. Daniel Levy is seemingly aiming for the lowest net spend trophy again. With the sale of Chadli, with possibly more players to go, it could risk Tottenham’s new season. After all, depth will be crucial to making the most out of all competitions. The Champions League has to be a big aim for Pochettino. But, how can the manager perform well if he has a barebones squad to pick from? Levy must be careful to balance transfers out with some transfers in.
Impact on West Brom
The squad has been lacking pace, flair and that bit of excitement that Chadli does sometimes show. So long as he can stave away the injury worries, he should be a great signing for West Brom.
Importantly, he will share some of the goal burden. This is because of his ability to score goals from the wing. For example, for AGOVV Apeldoorn, FC Twente and Tottenham, he has scored at least 15 league goals for each club from the wing. One reason for this is his tall frame, at 6ft 2in he is a threat in the air. His strength and his delicate touch are not too dissimilar to Marko Arnautovich. Therefore, he should fit in with Tony Pulis‘ tactics well. Once given a good run of matches, to regain long last match fitness, he should revive his career.
