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Tottenham pursuing star Ligue 1 forward

Chris Brunskill

Tottenham Hotspur are going to be on the lookout for forwards of all types over the next couple of transfer windows, and it appears that Toulouse striker Wissam Ben Yedder has caught their eye. The Mirror report that Spurs scouts have watched him, and estimate his likely price at £5m.

Ben Yedder has been attracting a lot of interest this season and its easy to see why. He's scored 38 goals in the last three seasons, with 6 from nine matches already this year. These performances have come with a pretty poor Toulouse team who have lost some of their best players in each of the last few seasons (Sissoko, Capoue, Aurier, etc.). Ben Yedder has, more or less, been the most consistent attacking force for Toulouse. He disappeared for a long stretch in the second half of last season, but seems to have regained his form to start this year.

In terms of his ability and what he brings to the table, he's a right footer, who has played primarily in a strike partnership at Toulouse. Since Poche seems to prefer a lone striker formation and Ben Yedder has little desire to drop deep to get on the ball, it seems more likely that Ben Yedder is being eyed for the "Jay Rodriguez role". He certainly has the attributes to play it, but Ben Yedder has been most effective through the middle in his career.

Ben Yedder has above average speed. More than Chadli, but less than Townsend or Lennon, and he's a good dribbler. His main strength, really, is being in the right place at the right time and finishing. I'm not sure how much that skill would translate to left wing or if he has the workrate on defense to press high up the pitch and track back.

Depending on price this could be a good move or a bad one. I like that Spurs are turning to France for players that are more cost effective alternatives as opposed to overspending on someone like Rodriguez, but this move seems like a coin flip in terms of how it might work out.