Tottenham Hotspur could see two departures in January, with Galatasaray and Crystal Palace reportedly lining up moves for Vincent Janssen and Ben Davies respectively.
Voetbal International have reported that Galatasaray are ready to offer a temporary escape route to Tottenham Hotspur striker Vincent Janssen, with Besiktas and Istanbul Basaksehir also monitoring the Dutch international’s situation at White Hart Lane.
To say that Vincent Janssen has struggled to adapt to English football would be nowhere near the actual picture of his career as a Tottenham Hotspur player. Signed for a reported €22 million from AZ Alkmaar this past summer, much was expected from the 22-year-old.
However, he has not managed to settle to life in England at all, managing to score just three goals in 23 appearances for the North Londoners in all competitions so far. More startling is the fact that Janssen hasn’t scored a single goal from open play, shedding some light on his struggles for Tottenham thus far.
Harry Kane’s return from injury has seen him being restricted to sporadic appearances from the bench, managing to play just 20 minutes in the Premier League since November. He started in Tottenham’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa two weeks ago, but again failed to make any sort of impact for his side.
With his struggles all too apparent, Galatasaray feel that a move to Turkey can do wonders to his confidence.
The Turkish club is looking to sign Janssen on loan until the end of the season, and with Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong and Garry Rodrigues playing at the club, and manager Jan Olde Riekerink as well as Frans Hoek a part of the coaching setup, he could settle in quickly at the Turk Telekom Arena.
One stumbling block for the transfer to take place could be the lack of backup options at Mauricio Pochettino’s disposal, with Janssen being the only traditional striker available, even though Son Heung-min has shown that he can fill in as a striker if called upon.
It now remains to be seen if Spurs allow the player to move in January, and if Janssen himself is interested in staying and fighting for his place.
Meanwhile, the Sun have reported that Crystal Palace are lining up a move for defender Ben Davies, and is ready with a shock £10 million bid for the Wales international, with Sam Allardyce interested in adding a left-back to his squad in January.
Davies is another player who has failed to establish himself as a regular in the first team. Ever since signing for Tottenham from Swansea City in the summer of 2014, the Welshman has been on the fringes of the Spurs side, mostly being used as the side’s left-back in cup competitions.
That has seen him being restricted to just 57 starts in more than two years with the Lilywhites, with Danny Rose being the obvious first choice as the left-back for Pochettino.
Sam Allardyce wants to make big improvements to the Crystal Palace squad at his disposal, with the club struggling in the bottom half of the table and just outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
The former England manager has already added left winger Jeffrey Schlupp from Leicester City and the Eagles have also been linked with out-of-favour Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho this week.
Defensive improvement is Allardyce’s priority, and the Palace boss has reportedly already failed to sign Patrick van Aanholt, with Sunderland refusing to sell to a relegation rival. He has now turned his attention towards Davies, but Tottenham are demanding a significant improvement on the £10 million offer on the table.
Another possible hurdle is the ankle injury that Jan Vertonghen suffered in last week’s 4-0 demolition of West Bromwich Albion.
With just Kevin Wimmer and Cameron Carter-Vickers as the other options at his disposal, Pochettino could be reluctant to sell. So, it will be interesting to see if Spurs indeed offload Davies, with Palace so desperate for a left-back.
