[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n the 29th May, it was announced that Spurs had completed their first signing of the season in the form of Austrian centre-back and promising talent Kevin Wimmer.
Reportedly commanding a fee in the region of 6-10 million euros, Wimmer was short-listed for the 2014/15 Bundesliga Team of the Season, after he had an excellent season at the heart of the FC Köln defence.
Having played so well, he attracted the attention of Tottenham Hotspur, where he was bought in mind of plugging the gaps in the leaky Spurs defence, who conceded as many goals as 16th place Sunderland last season.
With misfits Younès Kaboul and Vlad Chiricheș expected to leave this summer, Wimmer’s main competition as yet include young England prospect Eric Dier, Belgium national Jan Vertonghen and experienced Argentinian Federico Fazio.
Standing 1.87m tall, he is a defender mainly relying on his physical attributes when it comes to aerial duels, rarely over-committing in the tackle hence his mere three yellow cards last season.
The quality of his longer passes is varied, but he is capable of some excellent diagonals and well-weighted balls. However, he does show signs of suffering from an all too common problem among centre-backs who rely too heavily on their physique – a poor first touch, especially when under heavy pressure, evidenced by the games against Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen. He is only 22 however and with his best years ahead of him, such skills can be honed and improved as he develops at Spurs.
Wimmer possesses good pace for a man of his stature – something which rival Fazio desperately lacks. It’s plain to see why Tottenham’s scouting staff have sought after Wimmer.
While he still has things he needs to improve, he is a young and hard-working centre-back who has the potential to become a solid Premier League performer. He is certainly strong and robust enough to deal with the English style of play, whilst his conservative approach to defending should also serve him well.
Whilst he is reasonably attentive to the positioning of opposition forwards, he does have a tendency to switch off at times; however, again this skill will be sharpened with time and training.
Currently, Wimmer will have to really impress Pochettino if he is to surpass Jan Vertonghen or Eric Dier in the pecking order, with the former being a mainstay of the Tottenham defence and the latter demonstrating real attacking potential in the latter games of the 14/15 season, a rare skill amongst the Spurs back-line.
It appears that, with good additions this summer, Spurs could be a top-four challenging side if they get the defensive situation sorted, and Wimmer looks like a positive step in the right direction.
All in all, Kevin Wimmer could be a very promising signing for Tottenham, and could finally prove the defensive answer that Daniel Levy has been seeking and that Spurs fans have been demanding for years.
