Does Tottenham really need another central midfielder?

Tottenham are in discussions with Corinthians over the transfer of Brazilian international midfielder Paulinho

According to Sky Sports, Tottenham are in negotiations to sign Brazilian international midfielder Paulinho from Corinthians in a deal worth close to the region of £17million.

The Brazilian has been impressive for his national side in recent games and scored in the Selecao’s recent 2-2 friendly draw with England.

He is currently away on international duty with his national side at the Confederations Cup and could be in next year’s squad for the World Cup.

Negotiations

Corinthians director of football Edu (yes, the former-Arsenal midfielder) revealed talks are progressing well. Edu told UOL: “The situation is well underway.

“We have to agree on some details of the negotiation, so I can’t say he will leave yet, but the negotiations are good.”

Talented

The 24-year-old midfielder definitely has something about him. His role for the Brazilian national slightly differs to the one he plays for his club team. In the national team, he usually plays as one of the sitting midfielders in central midfielder.

However, in club football he plays in a more advanced role further up the field. The strong midfielder is extremely effective in both penalty boxes and has an excellent engine. He is also superb in the air, which is a good strength to have for the Premier League.

I believe he could be a good signing for Spurs, but my question is do they really need another central midfielder?

Stockpiling

Tottenham seem to have the bizarre ability to stockpile central midfielders. No matter what manager is in charge of the club Spurs seem to have an abundance of players to play in the centre of the park.

Here is a list of players capable of playing in central midfielder at Tottenham:

Scott Parker, Sandro, Mousa Dembele, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jake Livermore, Clint Dempsey, Tom Huddlestone, Tom Carroll, Lewis Holtby.

That is quite a lot of players capable of playing in the centre of midfield. Jake Livermore has been linked with a summer exit, as at 23 year-old he is getting to the stage where he needs regular football to develop. I do not think Livermore leaving this summer would be a major surprise.

Youngster Tom Carroll is highly regarded at White Hart Lane, but he has made just a handful of appearances. He is another youngster who could possibly exit the club this summer, more likely on-loan.

However, if those youngsters did leave, it still leaves Spurs with a plethora of senior central midfielders, all vying for positions in the centre of the park. The likes of Clint Dempsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson both played out of position on the wings last season.

To be fair Dempsey and Sigurdsson are more accustomed to playing as attacking midfielders, but both have played in the centre of midfielder. Neither are likely to play as central midfielders next season.

Scott Parker, Sandro, Tom Huddlestone and Mousa Dembele are all out and out central midfielders and could compete for those positions next season. Paulinho will be another option, but he will be yet another player competing for a central role.

Priorities

Surely, Tottenham have other priorities. The side from north London have weaknesses in other areas of the pitch. Spurs currently only have two strikers on their books in Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Signing a striker has to be Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas’ priority this summer. Tottenham have long been linked with a move for Internacional striker Leandro Damiao, but his agent has denied that his Brazilian club have received any offers for his services so far this summer.

A summer move for the 23-year-old cannot be ruled out and I am sure Villas-Boas has other targets in mind this summer as well.

Strong

The signing of Paulinho could prove a good one, if the move does come-off and his signing will strengthen an already strong area of the team. I am just not sure the centre of midfield is the area that needs improvement most at Spurs.

Andre Villas-Boas is paid the big money to make these sorts of decisions and he has done a decent job so far at White Hart Lane, so I will not question his wisdom.

Does Spurs need another central midfielder?