Spurs keen on signing “insane” Richarlison upgrade in £25m sensation who’s like Isak – opinion

With the transfer window now officially open, Tottenham Hotspur must work fast to bring in the players Ange Postecoglou needs to make a real push back into the top four next season.

Luckily for the Australian, Daniel Levy and Co are doing precisely that, as the club have been linked to names like Eberechi Eze and Ivan Toney in the last few days.

However, the latest player touted for a move to N17 has been likened to Alexander Isak and could be the perfect Richarlison upgrade.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from the i, Tottenham are one of several clubs interested in signing LOSC Lille’s Jonathan David this summer.

Alongside the Lilywhites, the report claims that West Ham United, Aston Villa, and Manchester United are all keen on the Canadian, with the latter having already contacted the player’s representatives.

While the interest from other sides is far from ideal, the good news is that, according to the i, the forward will be available for as little as £25m due to his contract expiring next year.

It may prove challenging to get ahead of the other interested clubs, but at that price, Spurs cannot afford to miss out on the opportunity to upgrade Richarlison with David, especially when he’s been compared to Isak.

How David compares to Isak and Richarlison

So, before we look at how David compares to Richarlison, let’s first examine this comparison to Isak, which primarily stems from FBref.

They look at every player in Europe’s top five leagues and then construct a list of the ten most similar players for each position, and according to them, the Newcastle United star is the seventh most similar forward to the Lille man in the top five leagues.

This can be seen best in some of their underlying numbers, such as non-penalty goals, progressive passes, shots on target, goals per shot, and shot on target and shot and goal-creating actions, all per 90.

So, with his similarities to the Swedish international cleared up, how does the “absolutely insane” marksman, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, compare to the Lilywhites Brazilian number nine?

Well, when it comes to the most essential aspect of a forward, their output, it’s a win for the Lille man, and it’s not even close.

In his 47 appearances this season, he scored 26 goals and provided nine assists, averaging a goal involvement every 1.3 games.

In comparison, the former Everton man managed a reasonable but nowhere near as impressive haul of 12 goals and four assists in 31 games, which equates to a goal involvement on average every 1.9 games.

Ultimately, while Richarlison is a talented player, he has not been clinical enough in the two seasons he has been at Spurs, so if David is available for just £25m, signing him to replace the 27-year-old seems like a no-brainer.