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After a tumultuous three years in North London, Thicc Vin is heading off on a new adventure. Tottenham Hotspur and C.F. Monterrey today confirmed the transfer of Vincent Janssen from the Premier League to Liga MX. The fee was not formally announced but is said to be in the area of €7m.
♂️| ¡Bienvenido al Club de Futbol Monterrey, @vincentjanssen! La Sultana del Norte te recibe para rayar tu historia en Azul y Blanco ⚪
— Rayados (@Rayados) July 23, 2019
¡A defender la camiseta, #EnLaVidaYEnLaCancha! #ArribaElMonterrey #NotaRayada ➡️ https://t.co/lUZKNqs8zi pic.twitter.com/QN1PL0ueuk
We have reached agreement with Mexican side C.F. Monterrey for the transfer of @vincentjanssen.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 23, 2019
We wish Vincent all the best for the future.
Janssen was one of Tottenham’s more expensive purchases in recent years, bought for £17m from AZ Alkmaar, where he had the appearance of an up and coming striker. In his one season at AZ, Janssen scored 34 goals in all competitions and was top scorer in the Eredivisie. Spurs were interested in him as a backup to Harry Kane, but in his one season as a full member of Tottenham’s first team in 2016-17 he was a dud, scoring six goals in all competitions, two in league play. Of those six goals, only two were from open play, with the rest from the spot.
Janssen has also been dogged by injuries during his Spurs career — a foot injury kept him out of most of his season long loan to Fenerbahce in 2017-18, and he spent much of last season recovering from a surgical procedure before improbably returning as a substitute for Spurs at the end of the last campaign.
Now 25, it’s easy to say that Janssen lost all confidence at Tottenham, but there’s a good striker in there somewhere, and Mexico might be the place where he’s able to resurrect his career. London was obviously a terrible fit, but at Monterrey he’ll be joining a Liga MX club that is one of the biggest in Mexico, and one that should compete for the league title this season.
At Monterrey, Janssen will be considered rotation and competition for Argentine center forward Rogelio Funes Mori, who scored 20 goals last season but who, I’m told, some Rayados fans think has been coasting a bit. Janssen’s past goal scoring ability and European pedigree could serve him well there, though it may take him a while to adjust to football in Mexico.
We teased him a lot at this website and made fun of his “thiccness” but I confess that I’ll miss him, at least a little bit. I’m sad that it never worked out for him at Spurs and in the Premier League, but wish him well in the next stage of his career. Hopefully I can catch him in action if Monterrey plays Chicago Fire in competition next year.