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Who is Pape Cheikh Diop – and how will he impact Spurs’ relentless pressing machine?
By
Muhammad Butt
16th Aug 2017
Spurs are believed to be on the verge of signing Pape Cheikh Diop from Celta Vigo.
Celta have put a price tag of £9m on the Spanish international, and even for a club as notoriously bargain-hungry as Tottenham, that price is low enough.
Daniel Levy may try and haggle it down further, but he is still expected to be a Spurs player come September 1.
But just who exactly is Pape Cheikh Diop? What’s his story, his playing style and his suitability for Spurs? Squawka investigates.
What’s his story?
Diop was born in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. He arrived in Spain in 2011 at the age of 14 and after some games playing for local youth sides he wound up signing for Celta Vigo in 2013. As is usual with most young prospects, his path from youth systems led to the B-team.
He made his B-team debut at the start of the 2014/15 season in the Segunda Divison B when he was just 16 years old. Diop played three times that season, scoring once. In 2015/16, he featured more prominently, playing 18 games and again scoring once.
This led to a promotion to the senior side for 2016/17, although here he was mostly a sub. He played 19 games (scoring once, yet again) but for a limited 676 minutes. His potential was obvious, and he had begun representing Spain at youth level. He was tipped for future greatness.
Where (and how) does he play?
Diop is a box-to-box central midfielder possessing great energy and skill. Videos exist of him showing incredibly bravery and flicking the ball over opponents’ heads as a way to avoid a press. He’s not exactly Ronaldinho but he has flair and is capable of using it to his advantage.
He’s a tenacious tackler, not just willing but happy to defend on the front foot – stepping up and pressing opponents into mistakes or hunting the ball down as part of a co-ordinated pressing strategy. His reading of the game is impressive for someone of his age, so he isn’t that easy to bypass either.
He’s a decent passer, too, and capable of picking the right moments to release the pass and the right targets for it.
But his best attribute may just be his eye for goal, or, at least, his instincts in attack. When presented with a 1v1, he can finish chances with composed efforts and he seems to have an instinct to get into the right place to bundle home efforts as well.
Would he fit in at Spurs?
Training at Old Trafford in May 2017.
How does a goalscoring box-to-box midfielder fit Spurs? Like a hand does a glove. Mauricio Pochettino’s men have been pursuing Ross Barkley for what seems like an eternity now, only to be constantly rebuffed by Everton’s outlandish valuation of a player who alternates looking like a world-beater in the making and a 30-year-old has-been journeyman.
But Diop presents a cheaper and, frankly, smarter alternative to Barkley; he is younger and has just as high a potential ceiling; he’s a hard worker – harder than Barkley – so won’t be put off by Mauricio Pochettino’s demands of intensity.
He has enough skill that he could actually help push Spurs forward and his eye for goal could add goals to a Spurs side that desperately needs them. And, perhaps above all, because he doesn’t have a massive reputation he won’t demand equally massive wages, which will please Daniel Levy for sure.
What happens next?
Ross Barkley weeps into his training bib as Spurs secure Diop for a thoroughly reasonable fee late in the window? Spurs fans should be realistic; it’s unlikely that Diop will have too much of an impact on this season. He’s talented but very raw, all his skills are there but they need polishing.
However, at just 20, there is plenty of time for him to grow into the kind of supreme young talents that have made Spurs such a force in English football over the past couple of years.
Diop is an ideal Mauricio Pochettino midfielder and one more piece of Spurs’ relentless pressing machine.