Tottenham Hotspur had plenty of positives to take from last season, from the emergence of a talent like Destiny Udogie to the scintillating football Ange Postecoglou had the team playing at times.
However, as should be expected in a new manager's debut campaign, there were a few issues ranging from a collapse in form from players like James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski towards the end of the campaign, to a lack of goals throughout, as evidenced by the fact that six teams scored more than them in the league.
So, with this clearly an area of the team that needs improvement, it's unsurprising that the latest player touted for a move to N17 is a Premier League-proven goalscorer who could potentially help Kulusevski reach an entirely new level.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer news
According to a recent report from GIVEMESPORT, Tottenham have maintained their interest in Brentford striker Ivan Toney this summer and are now among the frontrunners to sign him.
Alongside the Lilywhites, the report claims that West Ham United are also near the front of the queue for the Englishman's signature, but it is Spurs who have the edge, as the Hammers are currently looking for alternative options.
The story has also revealed that due to the striker's contract expiring next summer and the lack of interest in him from other clubs, the North Londoners are preparing to make a 'lowball offer' to the Bees, which could be below their new £50m valuation, per the Sun.
If Daniel Levy and Co can get their hands on Toney for £50m or less this summer, they should, as his goalscoring record would surely see the club ascend the table, and he could even help Kulusevski become unplayable.
How Toney could help improve Kulusevski
There may well be several reasons why Toney would be a great teammate for Kulusevski, from the personal to the professional, but when it comes to what he can do on the pitch, it boils down to just one: his output.
Now, last season was certainly disappointing for the Englishman in this regard, but considering he was banned from all footballing activities until the new year due to his betting-related ban, it would be entirely unfair to use this as a stick to beat him with, especially as the two campaigns prior were incredibly impressive.
For example, in his first season following promotion with the West Londoners, he scored 14 goals and provided six assists in 37 games.
Appearances
37
35
17
Goals
14
21
4
Assists
6
5
2
Goal Involvements per Match
0.54
0.74
0.35
The following year, the Northampton-born "monster", as dubbed by manager Thomas Frank, did even better, scoring 21 goals and providing five assists in 35 appearances, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 1.34 games.
It's this ability to put the ball into the back of the net and chip in with the odd assist here and there that would help Spurs' Swedish wideman to become so much more effective next season, as under Postecoglou last year, only Son Heung-min and Richarlison produced over 16 goal involvements.
Moreover, according to Understat, the former Juventus star's tally of three league assists in 23/24 was a massive underperformance from his expected assists figure of 8.62, and while he undoubtedly had a small part to play in that, the failure of his teammates to put away his chances was a more significant reason for the disappointing discrepancy between expectation and reality.
Ultimately, based on how well Toney performed in his first two full seasons of top-flight football, there is no doubt that were he the one getting on the end of Kulusevski's chances, the Swede would have an awful lot more assists to his name, and Spurs could be gearing up for a return to Champions League football in 2024/25.
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Therefore, even if Levy and Co can't negotiate his fee to below £50m, they should do what they can to ensure the Brentford poacher makes his way to N17 this summer.
