Player Focus: Not the Next Bale but Davies Would be a Snip for Spurs

Tottenham have previous when it comes to signing young, highly-rated, Welsh left-backs from teams with a name beginning with 'S'. Is it any wonder then, after the success Gareth Bale enjoyed at White Hart Lane, that Daniel Levy is now reportedly looking to bring Swansea's Ben Davies to north London?

Bale was eventually sold to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee, but he was breaking records from the get-go at Spurs. It was a Premier League-high 24 appearances before Bale was involved in a win, and he was considered something of a curse in his first few months at the club. Unbelievably, it was suggested that Bale would be used by Levy as a makeweight to lure the prodigious Stewart Downing from Middlesbrough.

Now, this is not to say that Davies, having won plenty of Premier League games already, is destined to follow in Bale's footsteps, purely because he shares certain similarities with the former Spurs winger. For one, Davies does not exhibit the same signs of powerful, athletic forward running that Bale did from a very early age. He relies more on clever interchanges of passing - as is the case for most of Swansea's squad - rather than brute strength and pace. However, while any club would be delighted to uncover the next Gareth Bale, that is not what Spurs are looking for in Davies. Left-back has been a problematic position for them for years - arguably even in the days when Benoit Assou-Ekotto was first choice - and reinforcements in that role is a priority this summer rather than attacking midfielders.

Danny Rose was the only natural left-back in the squad last season and while he is a perfectly adequate Premier League full-back, he is probably not quite of high enough quality for a club of Spurs' ambitions. Even if he was, injuries kept him out for much of the season and the lack of a back up cost Tottenham dear. Jan Vertonghen looked uncomfortable and unhappy on the left side of defence, while Kyle Naughton provided no attacking threat when playing there, too often being forced to cut back onto his right foot, and even less in the way of defensive stability.

Apart from bringing natural width to the left side of Spurs' defence, Davies is also the capable defender that Spurs need. Averaging 2.2 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game in the Premier League last season, Davies made a combined total of 139 tackles and interceptions over the course of the campaign; more than any Spurs player managed, in spite of the fact that Swansea had much more of the ball (57.3% possession) than Spurs (54.9%). He was dribbled past more times (54) than any other defender in the Premier League last season but one would hope that any manager at a bigger club would look to leave him exposed less frequently.

Davies likes to get forward and that would benefit Spurs no end. They often played a right-footed left winger last season, namely Christian Eriksen or Gylfi Sigurdsson, and new manager Mauricio Pochettino preferred an inverted winger at Southampton, too. He had Luke Shaw - now of Manchester United - at his disposal at St Mary's, and obviously likes his full-backs to get forwards. Though Shaw might well have been his first choice left-back at new club Spurs, the £30m that was paid for him took him outside Tottenham's range. But have Manchester United got three times what Spurs would be getting, if the reported £10m fee for Davies is indeed accurate? 

Shaw is younger, at just 19 years of age, so in that sense there is more potential for him to rise to the very top, but the fact that he is English certainly increases his value in the current market. Liverpool paid over-the-odds for Adam Lallana and there is the chance that United may have done so with Shaw. Averaging 2.1 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game, he trails Davies in this regard, though his 1.6 successful dribbles per game is significantly higher than the Swansea man (0.4).

However, Shaw's solitary assist and goal tally of zero leaves a lot to be desired. For the amount he got forward for Southampton last season, he should arguably have done better in both regards. Davies had two goals along with an assist to show for his forays upfield in fewer appearances than Shaw.

£30m for the England left-back is merely a reflection of the current market in this country, and though it seems like a lot of money, Shaw could well enjoy a long and fruitful career at Old Trafford. Davies might not be the next Gareth Bale, but Spurs fans should definitely be keen for their new manager to pick up Davies for £10m, a snip when considering the prices paid for top young talent these days, and even more so given quite how well it worked out last time they signed a highly-rated Welsh left-back.

Do you think Spurs should pay the reported £10m for Ben Davies? Let us know in the comment below