According to a recent report by the Sunday Mirror (24/2, page 61), as mentioned by Football.London, Tottenham Hotspur are looking to replace Fernando Llorente next summer and have identified Celta de Vigo’s Maximiliano Gómez as an ideal candidate to play second-fiddle to Harry Kane at the North London club.
The same source has also revealed that Llorente will leave Spurs at the end of this campaign as his contract runs out so Mauricio Pochettino will hope to replace him by bringing in Gomez who is expected to increase competition for Kane up front.
The Paysandu born talent grew up playing football back in his homeland before working his way up the youth ranks of Defensor. Celta de Vigo decided to take a chance on him in the summer of 2017. Since his move to Spain, the striker has slowly established himself as a prolific goal-scorer and has formed a fantastic partnership with former Liverpool forward Iago Aspas at Balaídos.
The 22-year-old striker has enjoyed a rich vein of form in the La Liga this season, but his goal-scoring contributions have not been enough for Celta to avoid a relegation battle going into the final few months of the season. The Spanish outfit are currently occupying the 17th place in the La Liga standings and are sitting just two points above the dreaded drop zone.
Gomez has featured in 23 matches for Miguel Cardoso’s side this term, scoring nine goals while grabbing five assists across all competitions. He has also earned nine international caps for the Uruguay national team but is yet to score a goal for his country.
The potential acquisition of Gomez will undoubtedly bolster Pochettino’s attacking options at White Hart Lane next season. Spurs have got Harry Kane as their primary striker up top but with Llorente set to leave in the summer, the North London outfit will only have Heung-min Son as their only other striking option which doesn’t bode well for a team looking to challenge for the Premier League title.
At 22, the South American sensation still has a lot of time to develop his game and be more productive in the final third. Gomez is a natural goal-scorer and knows how to find the back of the net consistently while also having an eye for a killer pass in the opposition half. Hence, it makes a lot of sense for Pochettino to go all out in pursuit of the Uruguayan international next summer.
