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It has been reported that James McCarthy may be switching Goodison Park for White Hart Lane this summer. I thought we could take a look at what he has done so far in his career and discuss whether he would improve Tottenham's midfield.
The Scottish-born Irish international started his career with Hamilton Academical. He made close to 100 appearances for them in his first three seasons as a professional, scoring an impressive 13 goals from midfield. His impressive performances for Hamilton earned him two young player of the year awards, in 2008 and 2009. His form earned him a move to the Premier League with Wigan Athletic (this may seem like the distant past to any unfortunate Wigan fans out there) for a bargain fee of £1.2m. He was a part of the Wigan team that beat Manchester City in the 2013 FA Cup final. Unfortunately, that also means he was relegated with Wigan that same year. However, he was saved from the hustle and bustle that is the Championship by his former boss Roberto Martinez, who had moved on to Everton FC. In fact, Martinez valued McCarthy so highly that he paid around £13m for his services - making him the second most expensive player in Everton's history. In his first season, he helped Everton to a record Premier League points tally and his performances prompted Martinez to claim that his value had doubled since his arrival at Goodison. However, last season didn't go particularly well. Everton got off to a poor start and never really recovered. While McCarthy himself didn't come in for excessive criticism, he was unable to reverse Everton's slump in form. Meanwhile, on the international scene, he accrued 27 appearances for the Republic of Ireland but has thus far failed to find the net.
So with his career roughly outlined, let's get onto whether he would be a good fit for Spurs. In a word: yes! McCarthy is very much a Pochettino type player, a worker not a shirker. He is known for his high energy performances and immaculate work rate. At only 24, his prime is likely still ahead of him. He is not a box-to-box type player looking to influence games in the final third, rather, he prefers to stay behind the ball consolidating the team's defensive shape - he's certainly willing to put his foot in if required. I think that defensive cohesion is something most Spurs fans would agree has been lacking since Poch's arrival. As a result, his goal-scoring stats are not particularly impressive since his move to the Premier League, scoring just 10 goals in around 180 appearances. Honestly, I rate Ryan Mason highly, he works hard for the team and has shown glimpses of real potential, and his partnership with Bentaleb has developed well. However, at times, given their lack of Premier League experience it sometimes seems that the Spurs midfield just dissolves at certain stages of matches - giving the opposition plenty of encouragement to drive straight at the back four. With McCarthy's style of play, and some 180 Premier League appearances under his belt, Spur's midfield should look much more stable should he join. He would certainly be an improvement on the recently departed pair of Capoue and Paulinho! It looks as though Stambouli will be leaving the club in the near future too which means that Spurs are a little light in central midfield and likely looking for a replacement.
It has been reported that McCarthy has grown unsettled at Everton because he has not been given the new contract that he was promised. Despite being one of Everton's better players, he is still one of the lower earners in the team. This situation has recently been further exacerbated by the arrival of Tom Cleverly, who will be earning significantly more than McCarthy. His situation has reportedly attracted interest from all the big Premier League clubs, Tottenham included. However, at over £20m, no clubs have been willing to pay the asking price - yet. The papers claim that Spurs want to pay £13m and offer Aaron Lennon as part of the deal, who spent last season on loan at Everton. It should be noted that Mr Martinez has denied that Everton need to sell this summer, and that he wants to build the team around McCarthy. These comments make it difficult to fathom why he hasn't been offered a new contract yet. Surely if you plan on building the team around someone you make sure they are fully settled at the club and feel valued. I suspect Martinez's comment are an attempt at driving up the price for potential suitors.
While I do believe McCarthy would improve the Spurs team, at £20m plus, I don't believe it represents value for money. The simple truth is Spurs can't afford to throw the kind of cash around that the likes of Man Utd can. While Schneiderlin is a similar player to McCarthy, he hardly seems worth north of the £24m that Utd paid for him. However, if Lennon could be included as part of the deal to reduce the fee to around £10m to £15m then I would encourage Spurs to make the deal. Having sold several central midfielders already this summer Spurs are likely in the market for one. So, do you think McCarthy is the man to fill the void next season? If not, who would you rather see instead?
PS. Au Revoir (Goodbye in French) to club captain, club legend.. Younes 'concentration' Kaboul who has signed for Sunderland!
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He would be a good addition, and I suspect Levy would be prepared to bid up to £15m for Mccarthy (plus Lennon). 2 out of 3 of Bentaleb, McCarthy and Mason in any Premiership match would provide an effective defensive midfield. Back those 3, with some of (Dembele, Ali, Carroll) - then Spurs can cope in all competitions.
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