Done Deal: Tottenham announce Gedson Fernandes loan signing

It’s in the bag! Tottenham Hotspur announced their first signing of the January 2020 transfer window, with 21-year old Benfica midfielder Gedson Fernandes arriving for an 18 month loan.

As mentioned before, this signing is more of a flyer than anything else. There’s reportedly an option to buy (around €50m if reports are accurate) when his loan expires in June of 2021, which makes this kind of a free hit for Spurs. The 21-year old has operated as more or less an 8 — a box-to-box midfielder — while at Benfica, which has led some to speculate that he will be considered a replacement for Moussa Sissoko while he recovers from surgery.

Will he have an impact? That’s hard to say. Tottenham still have some pretty good options in central midfield with Eric Dier, Tanguy Ndombele (when healthy), Harry Winks, and Oliver Skipp with players like Christian Eriksen, Dele, and Giovani Lo Celso able to deputize there if needed. Gedson would probably slip in for rotation minutes somewhere in there, though it could be a while before he adapts to Premier League football and Jose Mourinho’s tactics.

Either way, this is a very low risk loan with the possibility of a high reward if he kicks on. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Spurs aren’t looking at other players, especially at right back and striker, two areas of concern. But Spurs’ bread and butter the past decade have been young players who come cheap and can develop into solid pros. Gedson Fernandes seems to fit that profile, and is probably the kind of young player that Spurs should be looking at.

Welcome to North London, Gedson!