Bat Country: Spurs want Thomas Lemar on loan from Atletico Madrid

Silly Season is back and it is making up for lost time with stupid rumors involving Tottenham Hotspur taking a player off of another club’s hands.

Spurs have some business to conduct in January, though almost all of it involves selling some dead weight while hoping to land maybe one or two players. While we’ve told you all to not hold your breath on deals, something may pop up! This, however, is not going to be one of them.

According to footmercato, Tottenham have reached out to Atletico Madrid about taking out-of-favor Thomas Lemar on loan with an option to purchase at the end of the season.

Lemar, âgé de 24 ans, voit donc son nom associé à un départ pour le mois de janvier. L’Olympique Lyonnais a tenté sa chance, sans succès. Une chose est certaine, l’Atlético veut récupérer sa mise de départ, à savoir 72 M€, prix payé à l’AS Monaco en 2018. Un tarif rédhibitoire, surtout lors du mercato hivernal, a priori un marché d’ajustement. Cependant, le talent de Lemar n’est pas à remettre en cause, et des clubs viennent aux renseignements.

Lemar was a part of that terrifying AS Monaco side that won Ligue 1 a few years back and had a hand in sending Spurs to Europa League that season. He got his big money move like most of that squad did. Atletico paid a whopping €72m for his services, and that is where this rumor starts to hit Bat Country levels of stupid.

Lemar has been average-to-bad for Atletico this season, having made 21 appearances across all competitions and not having a single goal or assist to show for it. He also just did his hamstring and is going to be out for awhile, so that makes this move even less sensible, especially if Atletico are asking for that big a fee at the end of this.

If this was a serious rumor, my question would be simple: What does Lemar actually bring to Spurs? A few seasons ago, I could point at his numbers in France that showed him to be a great dribbler and dynamite crosser, but in Spain those numbers have died a horrible death. His last season at Monaco, he had 14 goals and 18 assists in 55 appearances. Those numbers dropped to just three goals and 10 assists in 38 appearances the following season after his transfer. Last season was worse, with three goals and six assists in 43 appearances.

Is Lemar a bad player? Absolutely not, and I’m sure he can still dig his way out of this hole but it’s doubtful it will be with Atletico Madrid. However, if Spurs are going to spend that kind of cash on an attacking player, there are far better options out there. Spurs are still linked to Bruno Fernandes and I would 100% believe a story that said we were back in for him. This story, however, is as batty as it gets and shouldn’t be treated as remotely serious.