Tottenham Hotspur Planning Bundesliga Transfer Raid, But Who are the Targets?

According to a report from TeamTalk, Tottenham Hotspur are planning a double Bundesliga swoop for two highly-rated talents as Ange Postecoglou looks to build on a promising first season in North London. However, not only are both talents currently applying their trade in the Bundesliga, but they’re both representing Stuttgart and have been shining stars in the German side’s Champions League qualification season.

The two players in question are Chris Fuhrich and Hiroki Ito and could be incredibly smart signings to bolster Spurs’ squad in multiple positions. With that being said, let’s take a closer look at both players…

Chris Fuhrich

Fuhrich is a 26-year-old versatile forward but is predominantly used as a left-winger and has enjoyed a breakthrough 2023/24 campaign. Across his 38 appearances this season, Fuhrich managed to score nine and assist a further seven goals across all competitions.

As seen in the graph above, Furhich ranks pretty highly for progressive actions, whether that be progressive carries or progressive passes. Sitting in the 83rd percentile for successful take-ons also highlights his positive nature. In contrast, his shot-creating actions and his non-penalty xG + xA stands pretty mediocre compared to other players in his position.

The 26-year-old is expected to cost around £25million, but I would suggest that there could be better value elsewhere in the market. Should Spurs go through with the purchase, Fuhrich would likely provide depth behind Heung-Min Son and Brennan Johnson on the left-hand side but this wouldn’t be a move that I would be pushing too hard for, personally.

Hiroki Ito

Ito is a 25-year-old central defender who has also enjoyed a standout season for Stuttgart and has also nailed himself down as an important part of the Japan national team, with 18 caps. The defender made 29 appearances for the German side last season and is expected to be on the radar of a number of European clubs.

As you can see Ito ranks fairly impressively against other central defenders. Most notably you can see his progressive nature as a ball-playing defender, in the 94th percentile for passes attempted, 84th percentile for progressive passes and 86th percentile for progressive carries. That really shows how confident Ito is with the ball at his feet and could be a perfect fit for how Postecoglou likes his sides to play out from the back.

Being in the 91st percentile for shot-creating actions and assists per 90 minutes also speaks volumes for his offensive ability. However, Ito’s defensive numbers leave much to be desired. In just the 3rd percentile for tackles per 90 and just the 10th percentile for aerials won. His interception stats bring his numbers up a little bit, but overall defensively he doesn’t look anywhere near proven enough.

Verdict

I have no doubt that both of these players could be on Spurs’ radar this summer, but I’m unsure whether either of them are the well-rounded article that Daniel Levy will be looking to acquire. Perhaps these two names could come up again towards the end of the window, but for now I suspect Spurs will be looking at other options and have them higher up on the list than Fuhrich and Ito. That would definitely be my thought process, too.