Spurs have staked their claim for the title after two hugely impressive wins over Everton and Bournemouth but they still look light in midfield. With the rapidly deteriorating Mousa Dembele expected to leave in January – Lyon’s Tanguy Ndombele is the perfect replacement and Spurs must stop at nothing to sign him in the new year.

What’s the word?

Well, Sky Sports reported back in the summer that Mauricio Pochettino and co. were after the Frenchman but no contact had been made – with the injuries sustained this season by midfield mainstay Dembele, this interest has surely only intensified.

Former Fulham man Dembele suffered an ankle injury in November which has seen him out of action until now and will likely continue to do so until the new year, at least, with the Lilywhites set to offload him once the window opens as they surely look to boost their emerging title charge.

The White Hart Lane outfit are beginning to look pretty thin in the middle of the park and have begun to call upon the youth as the likes of Oliver Skipp are thrust into the limelight, however there are few players who can bring what Dembele does to the side but the Belgian’s near-namesake Ndombele is as close as it gets.

Powerful playmaker

The 21-year-old is a fantastic playmaker, but not in the traditional sense – his driving runs from deep open up acres of space for teammates and his ball-carrying skills make him a nightmare to deal with for anyone in his way.

The former Amiens man completes 1.6 dribbles per game to Dembele’s 0.7 which is incredible considering that the Spurs man is regarded as one of the most gifted dribblers in the league.

An adept passer of the ball, too, the 5-foot-11 all-rounder is capable of fizzing a ball into the feet of the forwards but his defensive contributions should not be dismissed, either – the French U21 international completes a solid 1.9 tackles per game on average.

Spurs might be banging in the goals at the moment but, considering the depth of Manchester City and Liverpool, a lack of personnel could result in the demise of their title hopes.

Daniel Levy must shell out whatever is required to tempt the player to White Hart Lane ahead of the second half of the season – the north Londoners are fighting on four fronts for a trophy and will surely seize at least one if they prioritise this signing.

CheekySport’s Joel claims Spurs badly need to invest in January after not having “the balls” to beat Arsenal. Check out his uncensored opinion in the video above…