Breaking Down How Antonio Sanabria Would Fit in Tactically at Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur began their transfer activity this summer with the signing of Victor Wanyama from Southampton.
The Kenyan's arrival reinforces an area of strength and fortifies the Premier League's strongest midfield.
Spurs must now turn their attention to reinforcing their comparatively thin attacking options.
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As it stands, Tottenham still have only one specialist centre-forward in Harry Kane.
Clinton Njie is an option in reserve but is incapable of the hold-up and creative play that Mauricio Pochettino's system demands of the striker.
Heung-Min Son, Nacer Chadli and even Erik Lamela could all deputise in that role in an emergency, but none match Kane's versatility.
England's No. 9 is unquestionably first choice but has played 117 times for club and country in the last two seasons and can't be expected to continue at that rate while performing at his peak.
Spurs need a back-up, and having lost out in their pursuit of now-Chelsea-bound Michy Batshuayi, per the Daily Mail's Simon Jones, their focus has shifted to other targets.
Roma forward Antonio Sanabria is, according to Jones, a leading candidate.
The fee is yet to be agreed, but it appears to be in the £10-£16 million range.
Sanabria is a Paraguayan graduate of Barcelona's La Masia academy and currently a Roma player, although he spent last season on loan in La Liga with Sporting Gijon.
According to TalkSPORT, Pochettino called Sanabria personally in June to express his interest.
If Spurs do reach a deal, his role within the team and his potential influence on Pochettino's tactical approach is worthy of consideration.
Sanabria's movement shows the predatory instinct of a reliable goalscorer but in a markedly different way to Kane. The majority of his 11 goals last season came from inside the eight-yard box.
The only teenager in Europe to beat Dele Alli to 10 league goals last season, Sanabria has the look of a reliable scorer.
He is more than a poacher, and he unsettles opposition defenders with his deceptively loose technique, comparable to Luis Suarez's. He often seems close to losing possession before zipping past a defender's outstretched leg.
Again like Suarez, he is a dogged and tireless runner when he sniffs a chance.
Although relatively slight of stature, he stands at just 5'11", he is also an aerial threat due to his clever movement and aggression.
That he struck 11 times for a struggling Sporting Gijon side should only add to optimism around his potential.
Given his youth and relative inexperience, Sanabria would not be expected to immediately break into Spurs' starting lineup, but he would give Pochettino a different option for rotation.
Sanabria presents a different, far more direct threat than that posed by Kane.
He is reluctant to drop deep to collect the ball and prefers to roam around the opposition's back line looking for space into which he can run.
The recruitment of an exciting young forward is not aimed at changing Pochettino's first team but rather at giving him greater tactical flexibility.
Sanabria is a more combative, aggressive forward and would be an excellent option to change a game from the bench.
He would compete with Njie to be the relieving substitute, brought on to attack tiring defenders and clear space for Kane.
Njie often played wide with Olympique Lyon but was required in a central role in his first year in the Premier League, and while he showed flashes of quality, spending more time on the flanks would better serve his development.
With Lamela and Alli's natural tendency to collect yellow cards, a positive player in reserve is needed.
Chadli has been that player in the past, but it seems as though his time at Tottenham is coming to an end.
If Sanabria becomes the back-up No. 9, Njie would be freed up to replace Alli or Lamela as needed.
Pochettino would also have the option of playing with two forwards if required.
Pochettino believes in his standard 4-2-3-1 system and is unlikely to move away from it as a default. But signing a different kind of forward would give him the options of adapting his tactics to his opponent where necessary.
Against overly defensive opposition, the type that often troubled Spurs last season, Pochettino could shift to something resembling a 4-4-2 lineup, with Sanabria making runs and exploiting the space created by the defensive attention that constantly follows Kane.
Similarly, if the opposition are chasing the game, Sanabria could be deployed as a counter-attacking weapon.
If Tottenham recruit Roma's exciting young Paraguayan, they will present a more varied threat and possess a number of options in reserve with which to drastically alter their tactical approach while also being able to rotate their key attacking players in order to keep them fresh.
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