Tottenham Hotspur got off to a dream start to life under Ange Postecoglou after the Australian took charge of the London club in the summer, going unbeaten in the Premier League after ten games and battling it out with Manchester City, Liverpool and bitter rivals Arsenal for the top spot.
However, on Monday, Spurs' bubble burst and Ange's men came crashing back down to earth following a devastating double injury blow and two red cards which handed Chelsea all three points on Mauricio Pochettino's return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Summer signings James Maddison and Micky van de Ven were replaced in the first half. The former sustained an ankle injury during the game while the latter is said to have endured a serious hamstring problem and could be sidelined for months.
Postecoglou is short on quality at the back and with Van de Ven possibly out of action until the new year, the club have already turned their attention towards his replacement.
Who Spurs could sign to replace Van de Ven
According to a report from Football Insider, Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Edmond Tapsoba is one of three players on a shortlist at Tottenham Hotspur to replace the injured Dutchman, alongside Bournemouth star Lloyd Kelly and Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo.
The London club were linked with Tapsoba during the summer transfer window too, deciding to go with Van de Ven instead, but have now reportedly reignited their interest in the Burkina Faso international.
Tabsoba has been an integral part of Leverkusen's back three under head coach Xabi Alonso as the German outfit are sitting top of the Bundesliga, locked in an intense title race with champions Bayern Munich. When he first moved to the BayArena in 2020 for £15.5m, journalist Antonio Mango tweeted that the central defender is a "monster", who is intelligent, good on the ball, quick and strong.
Manchester United were linked with the 24-year-old during the summer as Erik ten Hag was hoping to bolster his defensive department. A report from Football Transfers claimed that Leverkusen had slapped a £40m price tag on Tapsoba but the defender has since penned a new five-year deal in Germany, keeping him at the club until 2028.
How Tapsoba compares to Eric Dier
At the weekend, Football Insider revealed that Tottenham's backup centre-back Eric Dier has decided he wants to leave the club after negotiations over a new contract collapsed. Dier's deal expires at the end of the season and so Spurs may be looking to add Tapsoba as a replacement for the England international. Nevertheless, the Burkinabé is statistically a far better defender than Postecoglou's number '15'.
Dier has had limited game time this season, so all of his stats must be taken from the previous campaign. This season, Tapsoba has averaged 1.12 tackles per 90 for Leverkusen, winning 0.92 per 90.
Meanwhile, Dier averaged 0.92 tackles per 90 last term, winning merely 0.61 per 90, according to FBref. The Tottenham-linked defender also wins the ball higher up the pitch than the man he could well be replacing, averaging 0.71 tackles per 90 in the middle and final third compared to Dier's lowly 0.44 per 90.
Tapsoba is far more useful in possession for his team, hence why Alonso has favoured him in a back three during his time in the Leverkusen dugout. The former Vitória de Guimarães star is an excellent ball progressor with his dribbling and boasts 1.94 progressive carries per 90, including 1.73 carries into the final third.
On the other hand, Dier averaged just 0.29 progressive carries per 90 last season as well as 0.29 carries into the final third per 90, playing in a much more conservative system. Furthermore, Tapsoba has been averaging 6.43 progressive passes per 90 this term, while Dier mustered 2.78 per 90 in the previous campaign.
Tapsoba is rapidly becoming one of the best defenders in German football and has all the attributes to play in Ange's high line, hence why he would be a good fit for Spurs in the absence of van de Ven.
