Yves Bissouma seems close to becoming Tottenham's third summer signing, after the club agreed a reported £25million fee for the 25-year-old on Monday. The current Brighton player has a year left on his contract and is expected to complete a medical at Hotspur Way, later this week.
Acording to CIES, Bissouma has a market value of up to £13million. However paying almost double for a player who could prove very beneficial to Antonio Conte's side, would still make the midfielder a solid signing.
The Lilywhites have already seen the quality of the Mali international, with his goal in the FA Cup fourth round tie in February and his solid Premier League performances against Tottenham last season. The Italian will be hoping Bissouma can do the same, if he does complete the move to Spurs.
READ MORE: Tottenham Hotspur agree fee with Brighton for Yves Bissouma to bolster Antonio Conte's midfield
Tottenham's current midfield underwent changes last season, but ended the 2021/22 campaign on a high. The season started with a duo of Pierre Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp, which then suffered a blow as the latter's injury at the beginning of the year ruled him out for the remainder of the season.
However it wasn't long until Rodrigo Bentancur arrived and the January signing had an instant impact on Conte's side, along with Dejan Kulusevski. This mean Hojbjerg could begin building a new midfield relationship with the Uruguyan international.
This left Harry Winks on the side-line for much of the season, with lack of game time becoming a real problem for the 26-year-old. This is likely to lead Winks out of the door this summer, with already reported interest from Everton.
Bissouma's impact in midfield was highlighted with some of his statistics, when he featured against Tottenham last season. In Spurs' 1-0 defeat to Brighton, the midfielder had almost 90 per cent passing accuracy, making four interceptions and three tackles.
In the reverse tie, which saw Conte's side beat the Seagulls 2-0, Bissouma's passing accuracy was 96.8 per cent. The Mali international has great quality in providing a link between defence and attack, something Tottenham sometimes lacked last season.
This will mean the 25-year-old can be the player that can support the Italian's back line and also provide some creativity to the front trio, exactly the kind of midfielder Conte would want. Bissouma's talent has been appreciated by Brighton boss, Graham Potter, who praised his player after his side beat Tottenham in April.
"It’s hard when you have a team performance like we did, to single anyone out, but tactically Yves was really good. He understood when to cover and when to release and when to put pressure on and then you could see his qualities," Potter explained.
"His high-end actions are Champions League level. I think you saw the full array of his quality."
The 47-year-old's Champions League admission could hand Conte a further boost in strengthening his squad. Next season, Tottenham will have a packed fixture schedule, with their Premier League games being played amongst cup and European matches.
This will mean the 52-year-old will have to rotate his starting XI, to prevent injury and will need players to step-up when called upon. Whether Bissouma is a regular starter or takes some time to settle in at Tottenham isn't likely to be answered until next season.
Either way the midfielder will be a key part of Conte's squad. The Mali international doesn't have Champions League experience, which may have slightly concerned some.
However Potter's mention of his Champions League quality is only an added boost for Spurs. Last season Tottenham lost a very winnable game to NS Mura in the Europa Conference League.
The players who featured in the match weren't able to step-up and perform well enough to win the game and this is a problem Conte won't want in the European competition next season. Whether Bissouma's main role is in the league or in the various other competitions, the Italian will rely on him to step-up when required and Potter's admission indicates he could do just that.
