Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a surprise move for Robin Koch ahead of the summer transfer window…
What’s the latest on Robin Koch to Tottenham?
That’s according to Football Insider, who reports that Spurs are keeping tabs on the Leeds United defender and have shortlisted the 26-year-old titan as they look for defensive reinforcements.
The north London outfit believe they could snag Koch on a bargain deal, should the Yorkshire side suffer relegation to the Championship at the end of the current campaign.
It’s thought that the Germany international is among several key players set to quit Elland Road if they are relegated. By then, Koch, valued at around £16m by Transfermarkt, will have only one year left to run on his £40k-per-week deal.
Leeds reportedly beat Spurs to the signing of Koch in the summer of 2020.
Is Koch a good signing for Tottenham?
This would be a pretty baffling move for sporting director Fabio Paratici to make this summer and while Spurs’ defensive problems are obvious, Koch is hardly the answer.
Perhaps surprisingly, Antonio Conte’s side are appalling at the back.
The Lilywhites have considered more goals than any other team inside the top 12 in the Premier League, have been knocked out of the FA Cup by lower league opposition yet again and couldn’t get past a struggling AC Milan outfit in the Champions League knockout stages .
Cristian Romero’s risky and erratic nature has caused more harm than good since his return from Argentina’s triumph at the World Cup, whilst the other two spots in the Italian’s back three have been contested by woefully inconsistent stars like Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Clement Lenglet and Davinson Sanchez.
Koch, a regular starter for back-to-back relegation candidates for Leeds, is hardly going to be an upgrade on any of the aforementioned players.
Once lambasted for his “horrible to watch” defending by reporter Beren Cross and dubbed “poor” by Jermaine Beckford, the German is part of a backline that has leaked more goals than Tottenham’s defensive unit, whilst three of Javi Gracia’s centre-backs have averaged a better WhoScored rating than him too.
It means that Conte – or his likely predecessor as his future at the club all but confirmed to be over – will be left with another disappointing option in the £13m dud – and one that is still going to leave a crippling defensive void in N17.