{"id":35376,"date":"2025-07-30T22:16:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T22:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/35376\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T22:16:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T22:16:13","slug":"morgan-gibbs-white-alternatives-four-proven-premier-league-creators-for-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/35376\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Gibbs-White Alternatives: Four Proven Premier League Creators for Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Nottingham
\nForest put an end to Tottenham<\/a>\u2018s
\npursuit of
\nMorgan Gibbs-White<\/a>, we suggest four other number 10s who the
\nnorth London club could turn their attention to.<\/p>\n

The news over the weekend that Morgan Gibbs-White had signed a
\ncontract extension felt like a huge blow to Tottenham\u2019s
\npreparations for the season.<\/p>\n

Having signed Mohammed
\nKudus<\/a> from West
\nHam<\/a> on 10 July, Spurs came very close to adding Gibbs-White
\nwithin the next 48 hours. In the end, they were trumped by Nottingham
\nForest<\/a> owner Evangelos Marinakis, who reported Spurs for what
\nhe considered an illegal approach, and then convinced the player to
\nsign a new three-year contract.<\/p>\n

There were a few reasons this was such a hammer blow to
\nTottenham.<\/p>\n

Firstly, after
\nthe Kudus signing<\/a>, the move for Gibbs-White was a signal of
\nintent from a club in desperate need of first-team recruits after
\ntheir worst-ever Premier League campaign. It also suggested new
\nmanager Thomas Frank and the club\u2019s hierarchy were aligned in their
\nview of exactly what they needed and, more importantly, who the
\nideal signings should be. Adding both Kudus and Gibbs-White, two
\nplayers who instantly raise the quality of the first XI at Spurs,
\nwould have been a big step towards getting this squad ready for
\ntheir return to the Champions League under new management.<\/p>\n

Instead, Spurs have been left \u2013 now 20 days on from reports they
\nhad booked Gibbs-White in for his medical \u2013 starting their
\npre-season tour of east Asia still searching for a player in that
\nposition. On top of that, everyone else is aware Tottenham want to
\nstrengthen in that area of the pitch, which could drive up the
\nprice of anyone they go for.<\/p>\n

The feeling that their progress under the new manager has been
\npunctured is exacerbated by their rivals strengthening far more
\nefficiently, particularly while Spurs stood still as they waited
\nfor news on Gibbs-White.<\/p>\n

Now, with just two weeks to go until their season starts with
\nthe European Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain on 13 August, is
\nit time for Spurs to get their skates on? With that in mind, who
\ncould they turn their attention towards as an alternative to
\nGibbs-White?<\/p>\n

Before we get to the meat of this conversation, it\u2019s worth
\npointing out the possibility that Spurs weren\u2019t after someone
\nlike Gibbs-White. Perhaps they wanted him and
\nonly him, and an alternative won\u2019t suffice.<\/p>\n

It is difficult to find creative players who posted similar
\nnumbers to him in part because Gibbs-White is a midfielder who
\nalways wants the ball but plays in a team who don\u2019t hold onto it
\nvery much and generally attack on transition. Few others find
\nthemselves in similar situations to him very often.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, rather than search for statistically similar
\nplayers from around Europe, perhaps it is best to simply look for
\nother creators who also do some of the things Gibbs-White does
\nwell, but possibly most importantly, are proven in the Premier
\nLeague and ready to go. Given the move for Gibbs-White and Spurs\u2019
\nbig-money signings of Kudus, Dominic
\nSolanke<\/a>, Brennan
\nJohnson<\/a>, James
\nMaddison<\/a> and Yves
\nBissouma<\/a> over the last few years, they are clearly aiming to
\nsign the best players who would see Spurs as a step up. Rather than
\ntaking a risk on a player thriving in Spain or Germany, Tottenham
\nwere happy to pay more for proven Premier League quality in
\nGibbs-White.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take that as our assumption going forward, then. What
\nwe\u2019re looking for for Spurs is a creative midfielder who is proven
\nin the Premier League, and is happy to take responsibility for his
\nteam. Someone who demands the ball and looks to make things happen.
\nGibbs-White was involved in 37.1% of Forest\u2019s open-play,
\nshot-ending sequences in Premier League games last season; only a
\nhandful of players played a part in a higher proportion for their
\nteam.<\/p>\n

\"nottingham<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re also looking for one who Spurs could realistically buy
\nthis summer for a reasonable price, and would improve their first
\nteam right away, or at the very least challenge Maddison and
\n
\nDejan Kulusevski<\/a> for a spot in central midfield.<\/p>\n

Easy, right?<\/p>\n

Here are some potential options for Spurs to sign now the
\nGibbs-White deal is dead in the water.<\/p>\n

Eberechi
\nEze<\/p>\n

Reports suggest Eberechi
\nEze<\/a> already has his heart set on a move to north London this
\nsummer\u2026 the only issue for Spurs is it\u2019s said to be Arsenal that
\nEze is keen on joining.<\/p>\n

No agreement has been reached, though, and the news on Wednesday
\nmorning was that Arsenal<\/a>
\ndon\u2019t want to pay Eze\u2019s full release clause. That might have opened
\nthe door to someone else, and if Spurs want to boost their ranks
\nwith one of the best creative midfielders from a Premier League
\nteam who are not competing in the Champions League, Eze is quite
\npossibly the best of the lot.<\/p>\n

He changes games with his actions at the sharp end of the pitch,
\nranking seventh for shots and chances created per 90 in the Premier
\nLeague in 2024-25 (5.5), behind an elite group of players in
\nBukayo
\nSaka<\/a>, Cole
\nPalmer<\/a>, Kevin
\nDe Bruyne<\/a>, Mohamed
\nSalah<\/a>, Matheus
\nCunha<\/a> and Bruno
\nFernandes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He deals with pressure exceptionally well, both in the sense of
\nopponents being close by and with big performances on big
\noccasions. He was one of only nine players in the Premier League
\nlast season whose pass completion rate increased when an opponent
\nwas within two metres of him as he made the pass, going up from
\n81.2% to 81.9% when under close pressure. Meanwhile, the list of
\nteams he scored against last season alone includes Chelsea, Aston
\nVilla (in two games), Manchester City (in two games, including
\nnetting the winner in the FA Cup final), Arsenal, Spurs and
\nForest.<\/p>\n

\"Eberechi<\/p>\n

Spurs might not fancy their chances of convincing him to choose
\nthem over Arsenal, particularly after Frank called Tottenham\u2019s
\nrivals \u201cone of the best teams in the world, unfortunately\u201d in a
\npress conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

But they would be able to offer Eze something that Arsenal
\nprobably couldn\u2019t: regular football in a central position. The talk
\nis that Eze would be going to Arsenal to play on the left given
\nthere isn\u2019t much chance of the England international taking
\n
\nMartin \u00d8degaard<\/a>\u2019s position in central midfield. At Spurs, Eze
\nwould play centrally, and is easily good enough to be the main man,
\njust like he is at Palace. That might just appeal.<\/p>\n

Harvey
\nElliott<\/p>\n

Spurs haven\u2019t generally signed players from the biggest clubs
\n(even
\nthough many of them do plenty of business with one another<\/a>) and
\nthey haven\u2019t bought a first-team player from Liverpool since
\nre-signing Robbie Keane from them all the way back in 2009, just
\nsix months after he moved the other way. Even when they do deal
\nwith each other, they do their transfers in unusual
\ncircumstances.<\/p>\n

But maybe this is the summer to put an end to that by taking a
\nlook at Harvey
\nElliott<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old has talent in abundance, although he is yet to
\nfully deliver on the promise he showed when he became the
\nyoungest player in Premier League history<\/a> (at the time) in
\n2019, debuting for Fulham aged just 16 years and 30 days.<\/p>\n

At Liverpool, he has won the Premier League and EFL Cup twice,
\nand he has gained experience in the Champions League. He hasn\u2019t,
\nhowever, played all that much football given he was deemed
\nfirst-team ready at such a young age.<\/p>\n

In four seasons since returning to Anfield after a season on
\nloan in the Championship at Blackburn, Elliott has started just 35
\nof a possible 152 Premier League games. Despite being available to
\nplay and in the squad almost all of the time across all
\ncompetitions in 2022-23 and 2023-24, he only played around half of
\nLiverpool\u2019s minutes, as the below graphic shows.<\/p>\n

\"Harvey<\/p>\n

Last season, a broken foot disrupted the start of the campaign
\nfor him, but he will still have been disappointed to play only 360
\nminutes \u2013 the equivalent of just four full matches \u2013 as Liverpool
\nwon the title.<\/p>\n

Now, he has publicly set himself the target of making England\u2019s
\nsquad for the World Cup next summer, opening the door to a possible
\nmove away.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had it my way, I would be here for the rest of my career,\u201d
\nhe said. \u201cI love everything about the club, but at the same time, I
\nkind of need to be selfish and see what\u2019s best for me. I have big
\nambitions. I want to get in the World Cup squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have many new players who have come in, so whether it blocks
\nthe path for me, I\u2019m not sure. It\u2019s something I need to have a look
\nat and decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

He would get much more game time at Spurs, who would hope he
\ncould translate his impressive numbers from sporadic appearances to
\na consistent run of first-team football.<\/p>\n

Over the past two seasons, only five players averaged more shots
\nand chances created per 90 in Premier League games than Elliott
\n(6.0), while only three players averaged more assists per 90 than
\nhis 0.42. He also ranks favourably for passes ending in the final
\nthird (25.7 per 90) and passes played into the box (6.7 per 90).
\nMeanwhile, only De Bruyne and Rodri were involved in more open-play
\nshot-ending sequences per 90 than him.<\/p>\n

\"Premier<\/p>\n

He also works extremely hard, and having learned his trade under
\nJ\u00fcrgen Klopp, it is perhaps no surprise that over the last two
\nseasons, only a handful of players have won possession in the final
\nthird more often than him (1.1 times per 90).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for Elliott to play regularly and, if he is open to
\nthe move, he could be just what Tottenham need.<\/p>\n

Mikkel
\nDamsgaard<\/p>\n

Ever since Thomas Frank took over at Tottenham, those in charge
\nof football\u2019s rumour mill have assumed he would return to former
\nclub Brentford<\/a>
\nto sign at least one player.<\/p>\n

With Spurs now looking for a hard-working, ball-carrying number
\n10, could that player be
\nMikkel Damsgaard<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The Dane just had his best campaign, becoming the first
\nBrentford player ever to register 10 assists in a Premier League
\nseason as he overcame persistent recent injury problems to start 34
\nof 38 league games and appear as a sub in the other four.<\/p>\n

His exceptional passing and vision were on show all season. Only
\nthree players in the whole league got more assists, while only a
\nhandful more created more chances (63) or big chances (15) than
\nhim. Only Bruno
\nFernandes<\/a> (320) and Bryan
\nMbeumo<\/a> (261) played more passes into the penalty area than him
\n(239).<\/p>\n

He consistently took opposition players out of the game with his
\npassing, and did so to devastating effect. Only three players broke
\nthe defensive line with a pass more times than him (56), and eight
\nof his line-breaking passes led to a goal within 10 seconds of him
\nplaying the ball, which was more than any other player in the
\nPremier League.<\/p>\n

\"Mikkel<\/p>\n

He knows what Frank would demand of him and is particularly
\neffective at carrying out his former manager\u2019s pressing game; only
\nBournemouth\u2019s Antoine
\nSemenyo<\/a> (37) won possession in the final third more times in
\nthe Premier League last season than Damsgaard (35).<\/p>\n

Crucially, Frank knows exactly how to get the best out of
\nDamsgaard, and that could make him an attractive option.<\/p>\n

Bilal El
\nKhannouss<\/p>\n

A cheaper and probably riskier option would be to take a punt on
\nthe undoubted potential of Leicester
\nCity<\/a> midfielder
\nBilal El Khannouss<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old only joined last summer after a couple of
\nseasons in Genk\u2019s first team in Belgium, but he showed glimpses of
\nhis ability during a difficult first year in England as Leicester
\nsuffered relegation to the Championship.<\/p>\n

He did, however, show he is up to playing in the Premier League
\nand that his future is at that level, starting 27 games and coming
\noff the bench in five more. His two goals \u2013 which included the
\nwinner in the away win at Tottenham in January \u2013 and three assists
\ndon\u2019t provide the most eye-catching numbers, but the fact he was
\nplaying in such a below-par Leicester team can at least in part
\nmitigate that poor return.<\/p>\n

Some of his underlying numbers, however, give a better insight
\ninto his ability.<\/p>\n

He averaged 1.7 chances created per 90, which put him just ahead
\nof Gibbs-White (1.6), and 1.2 shots per 90, slightly more than
\nDamsgaard (1.1).<\/p>\n

He ranked favourably for passes into the opposition\u2019s penalty
\narea, with 5.3 per 90, despite playing for the team who played the
\nthird fewest such passes per game (23.1). Speaking of looking for
\nplayers who like to take on a lot of creative responsibility, El
\nKhannouss alone accounted for almost a quarter of Leicester\u2019s
\npasses into the box.<\/p>\n

He is also a very good and direct dribbler, averaging 12.9 ball
\ncarries (moving at least five metres with the ball) per 90 last
\nseason, which is exactly the same rate as Mohamed Salah, and 6.4
\nprogressive carries (moving with the ball at least five metres
\ntowards the opposition\u2019s goal) per 90, which, again, put him just
\nahead of Gibbs-White (6.3).<\/p>\n

\"Bilal<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, of the 86 players to attempt at least 50 dribbles,
\nonly
\nCallum Hudson-Odoi<\/a>, Youri
\nTielemans<\/a> and J\u00e9r\u00e9my
\nDoku<\/a> maintained a better dribble success rate than him (59.7%).
\nAnd none of those three play in as crowded, advanced, and central
\npositions as him.<\/p>\n

There was too little end product to this fine work last season
\nto be able to truly say he could be an effective creator for a
\nChampions League club, but he would surely improve his rate of
\ncarries followed by a shot (0.5 per 90) or chance created (0.4) in
\na better and more dominant team than Leicester\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Although he isn\u2019t quite as proven as the other players in this
\nlist, plenty of the ingredients are there for El Khannouss to make
\nthe step back up to the Premier League.<\/p>\n

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