While their opening game of the Premier League season away to Leicester City didn’t go as planned, it’s been a relatively positive summer for Tottenham Hotspur this year.
Daniel Levy and Co started the transfer window slowly, but with just two weeks to go, they have brought in several incredibly exciting youngsters, like Archie Gray, Yang Min-Hyeok and Wilson Odobert, and the exceptionally talented Dominic Solanke.
However, it’s not all about the incomings, as the North Londoners have sold relatively well so far this summer as well, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg joining Marseille on a loan deal with an obligation to buy for £17m, Emerson Royal moving to AC Milan for around £13m, and most recently, academy graduate Oliver Skipp sealing his £25m move to Leicester City.
The talented ace leaves the North Londoners having played for his boyhood club and with the good wishes of the fanbase, and while he made the team a sizeable profit, he’s still worth considerably less than one of Ange Postecoglou’s most important midfielders.
Skipp’s Tottenham career
Now, there might be some out there who think that the fee Leicester paid for Skipp this week was excessive, but based on his body of work for Spurs, his age and future potential, it’s more than fair.
For example, since making his debut for the North Londoners in a League Cup tie against West Ham United in October 2018, the Welwyn Garden City-born midfielder went on to make a total of 106 first-team appearances before moving to the King Power, in which he scored one goal and provided two assists.
Described as a “fabulous” player by former England manager Glenn Hoddle earlier this season, the 23-year-old’s price tag was also slightly elevated by the fact that his contract with Tottenham was set to run until the summer of 2027, giving them the power to ask for what they wanted.
However, with plenty of top-flight experience under his belt and a long career ahead of him, Steve Cooper’s side have still got their hands on a quality player. That said, one of his former competitors back in N17, who now has even less of a barrier to the first team, is worth millions more.
Pape Matar Sarr’s valuation in 2024
Yes, the midfielder in question is Pape Matar Sarr, who signed for Spurs at 18 years old from Ligue 1 side Metz in the summer of 2021 for around £15m, although he didn’t actually move to North London until the summer of 2022.
According to Transfermarkt, his value has now shot up to at least €45m, which converts to around £38m, meaning he’s worth at least £13m more than Skipp, and considering he’s still just 21 years old, that valuation is likely to be even higher in a couple of years.
Now, some may think it’s a somewhat excessive price tag to place upon a youngster’s head, but over the last year or so, he has proven why it’s not.
For example, he made 35 appearances for the Lilywhites last season, starting 19 games in central midfield and 12 in defensive midfield, all while racking up three goals and three assists, equating to a goal involvement on average every 5.83 games.
Moreover, he has already won 24 senior caps for Senegal, in which he has scored once and provided two assists, proving U23 scout Antonio Mango correct in his assertion that he’s “so good at football it’s frightening.”
Ultimately, while it’s still very early on in his career, Sarr looks destined for the very top of the game, and therefore it’s hard to argue that his lofty valuation isn’t justified.
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