Spurs missed out on Werner upgrade in "brilliant" Premier League star

Spurs missed out on Werner upgrade in “brilliant” Premier League star

Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways in the Premier League over the weekend as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 at home on Saturday.

The Lilywhites bounced back from a 2-2 draw with Everton by securing a win over Roberto De Zerbi’s side, thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Brennan Johnson.

Heung-min Son, on his first appearance since returning from international duty, supplied the assist with a perfect cross to the back post for the former Nottingham Forest attacker to convert into an empty net.

It was a third Premier League goal of the season for the Wales international, whilst Timo Werner failed to register a goal or an assist on the opposite flank.

Both players arrived at Spurs this term, with the former in the summer and the latter in January, but some may wonder what could have been with one of the club’s reported targets.

Tottenham’s interest in Wolves star

During the January transfer window, it was reported that Tottenham and Liverpool both had an interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers star Hee-chan Hwang.

Football Insider claimed that both clubs were monitoring his performances as the South Korea international had been on fire in the Premier League for Gary O’Neil’s side.

The outlet claimed that a move ahead of the second half of the 2023/24 campaign was unlikely but added that Wolves are fearful of a summer exit for their impressive attacker.

There was no mention at the time of how much it would have cost Spurs to sign him in January, or how much they are prepared to demand at the end of the season.

Ultimately, Tottenham did not decide to test Wolves’ resolve with an offer to sign Hwang and missed out on acquiring his services last month.

Whilst they may revisit their interest in the summer, Ange Postecoglou and Daniel Levy could have landed an upgrade on Werner, who they signed on loan from RB Leipzig, if they had convinced their rivals to part way with Hwang, who has more goals and assists than Johnson this season.

Brennan Johnson’s season in numbers

The Welsh whiz has made 21 appearances in the top-flight since his move from Nottingham Forest and has failed to provide consistent quality in the final third.

His finishing has left a lot to be desired as the 22-year-old winger has scored three goals from an xG of 4.80, which suggests that he has let his teammates down at times with wasteful finishing.

Whereas, his fellow attackers have more than made the most of the chances that Johnson has created for them, as the young gem has recorded four assists from an xA of 1.93.

In total, the Spurs forward has produced three goals and four assists in 24 matches in all competitions, with three appearances in the two domestic cups, which is a return of one goal or assist every 3.43 games on average.

It has been far from a perfect first season at Tottenham for Johnson but he has plenty of time left, at the age of 22, to develop and improve over the years to come.

Whereas, Werner, 27, was brought in to make an instant impact on loan and Hwang would have offered far more than him at the top end of the pitch.

Werner’s struggles in front of goal

The Germany international joined the club from RB Leipzig last month and registered an assist on his debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Werner is five appearances into his career in North London and is still on the search for his first goal for the club, although he did add another assist in the 3-2 win over Brentford at the end of January.

His lack of consistent quality in the final third should not come as any real surprise given his struggles with Leipzig during the first half of the season.

The 27-year-old winger scored two goals, from 2.36 xG, and failed to provide a single assist, from 0.10 xA, in eight Bundesliga outings for the German side. He also ended up with zero goals and zero assists in four Champions League matches for his parent club.

In total, Werner has two goals and three assists to his name in 19 appearances in all competitions for Spurs and Leipzig combined so far this season, which is just shy of one goal contribution every four games on average.

This shows that the former Chelsea attacker has not provided outstanding quality as either a scorer or a creator of goals for either side, as a striker or a winger.

Why Hwang would be an upgrade on Werner

Meanwhile, Hwang’s performances for Wolves this season suggest that Spurs could have brought in a better player than Werner – an upgrade – if they had secured his services in January.

The 28-year-old dynamo has proven his quality in the Premier League with a string of impressive displays for the Old Gold since O’Neil’s arrival in the dugout last summer.

He has produced ten goals, three assists, and four ‘big chances’ created in 20 top-flight appearances, which includes 17 starts, and scored one goal in one EFL Cup match.

This means that Hwang has racked up 11 goals and three assists in 21 outings in all competitions for Wolves, which is a return of one goal or assist every 1.5 games, and that is seven more goal contributions than the aforementioned Johnson has managed.

23/24 league season

Timo Werner

Hee-chan Hwang

Appearances

12

20

xG

2.93

5.96

Goals

Two

Ten

xA

1.07

2.34

Assists

Two

Three

Big chances created

One

Four

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the Old Gold star, who was recently hailed as “fantastic” by O’Neil, has offered more at the top end of the pitch than Werner throughout the 2023/24 campaign.

Whilst the German attacker has underperformed his xG with wasteful finishing, Hwang has been lethal in front of goal with roughly four more goals than expected.

The £70k-per-week whiz currently ranks within the top 6% of Premier League attacking midfielders and wingers for non-penalty goals (0.56) per 90, which illustrates how impressive his scoring has been in the top-flight.

Therefore, Spurs missed out on a big Werner upgrade, who has also outperformed Johnson, by opting against a swoop to sign the Wolves dynamo in January.