Tottenham Hotspur fell to yet another disappointing Premier League defeat yesterday, as Cristian Stellini oversaw a miserable afternoon against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It marked their third league game without Rodrigo Bentancur, who was ruled out for the foreseeable future following his injury against Leicester City. The Uruguayan will undergo ACL surgery, thus leaving a gaping hole in the engine room alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
The Denmark international had struck up a fine partnership with the 25-year-old, so to break them apart will only scupper their top-four hopes further.
This defeat to the Old Gold represented a missed opportunity to capitalise on Newcastle United’s loss, and they must find a solution for their midfield vacancy to avoid dropping more points in their race to retain Champions League football once again.
Who could replace Bentancur at Spurs?
Whilst Oliver Skipp has deputised over the last few games, Pape Matar Sarr is the outstanding candidate for Stellini and Antonio Conte to be Bentancur’s long-term successor going into the new season.
He boasts the energy and quality that differentiates him from Hojbjerg, whereas the English midfielder does not. The 27-year-old records an 89% pass accuracy per game, and acts as more of a deep-lying playmaker alongside his 80.9 touches per game, via Sofascore.
The Senegalese youngster was thrown into the deep end to face AC Milan last month and showed poise and maturity beyond his youth. He earned a 7.1 rating for that display, making 77 touches, one key pass and maintaining an 83% pass accuracy. This was underpinned by a mammoth five tackles too according to Sofascore.
Journalist Seb Stafford-Bloor was full of expectation for Sarr upon his return from a loan spell, as he took to Twitter to claim: “There’s so much ability there.”
With just eight senior appearances under his belt for the Lilywhites, if he is to replace their injured stalwart then the end of this season represents a fine opportunity to build up his confidence in the first team.
When compared to other midfielders across Europe, the 20-year-old ranks in the top 1% for interceptions and the top 14% for tackles, whilst surprisingly also in the top 15% for assists, via FBref.
All the attributes are there for Sarr to star for Spurs and put to bed their injury woes as they enter the business end of the season.