Report: Spurs to make £10m bid for Callum Wilson if Bournemouth are relegated

Tottenham Hotspur could make a quick and cheap £10m bid for Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson, if Bournemouth go down. That’s the latest rumor from Alan Nixon at the S-n, who...

* record scratch, freeze frame *

OK, look. Anyone who has been reading Cartilage Free Captain for any length of time knows how we feel about transfer rumors that originate in the S-n. Nine times out of ten, they’re crap. Out of all the tabloid newspapers in the UK who report on football transfers, the S-n has the worst reputation, and that’s saying something. They’re a noxious news organization owned by Rupert Murdoch that regularly slings mud along with the worst of the worst in journalism. Smart readers who actually click on the links in the articles may have noticed that we didn’t link to the S-n article, but to a SpursCommunity post that summarizes its content. Normally we wouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole.

But!

Here’s the thing: Alan Nixon has got a pretty solid reputation as a reliable journalist, and he’s been strangely on point on Spurs rumors in the past. He probably shouldn’t be writing for the S-n but hey, we all gotta pay the bills. Whatever. So while I’m certainly not going to say that this is a lock-down certainty of a rumor, it’s actually one that we should at least look at, because it’d potentially be a pretty good piece of business.

Bournemouth have been bad this season, and Wilson hasn’t been much better. After tallying 14 goals and nine assists in 2018-19, Wilson has only 8 goals and 1 assist in all competitions this season, good for a penalty adjusted G+A/90 of 0.33, and an xG+xA/90 of 0.42 Not great!

However, don’t think of Callum Wilson as an every game starter at Bournemouth. Think of him as a rotation, cup, and late game substitute option at a Tottenham Hotspur with a lot better players who can actually get him the ball, and suddenly a £10m bid and around £100k/week wages starts to look a little more sensible. Despite an awful season, Wilson certainly knows where the goal is, he’s still just 27, and going from a starter for a relegated side to a cog for a Jose Mourinho-managed team (hopefully) playing in Europe maybe doesn’t look so bad compared to alternatives. Wilson would also thrive in Mourinho’s counterattacking system, as he’s still pretty fast and knows how to travel on Route 1.

Frankly, this would represent a pretty sensible piece of business for Spurs, and would also allow them to loan out Troy Parrott for a season to get some real experience before he inherits the keys to the kingdom. Of course, a lot of dominoes have to fall in order for this to happen: Bournemouth could still stay up if they beat Everton tomorrow and both Watford and Villa lose. Spurs could still drop out of Europa if they finish 7th and Arsenal win the FA Cup (ugh). Tottenham still have to find £10m in the couch cushions at Hotspur Way. And, y’know, this is still the S-n, reporting an “exclusive.”

The report states a potential bid “as low as” £10m, but if Bournemouth don’t stay up there’s probably going to be a lot of (cough) Cherry picking going on.

I wouldn’t hate this. But I’m still not linking to the S-n, sorry.