Daniel Levy simply cannot make £8.5m mistake at Tottenham Hotspur – opinion | OneFootball

Ange Postecoglou does not always tend to single out players for criticism, but last week the Tottenham Hotspur head coach publicly hammered one of them.

Tottenham failed to win against Rangers away from home at Ibrox in the UEFA Europa League last week. The League Stage game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Among the Spurs players who failed to play well in Glasgow was Timo Werner. The German forward was so poor that Postecoglou decided to take him off at half-time.

Postecoglou subsequently told Football. London about Werner’s performance: “He wasn’t playing anywhere near the levels he can. Yeah, when you’ve got 18-year-olds, it’s not acceptable to me. I told him that.

“He’s a senior international, a German international. In the moment we’re in now, I need everyone to be at least going out there and giving the best they can. What he produced wasn’t acceptable.

“When I’m asking the younger players to do massive jobs, I expect more from the senior players like him.”

Werner got dropped for the Premier League match against Southampton this past weekend. The former Chelsea player came on as a substitute for James Maddison in the 77th minute.

The forward has been disappointing this season. On loan from RB Leipzig, Werner has given three assists in 13 Premier League games for Spurs. He has scored one goal in two League Cup games and has not found the back of the net or provided an assist in five appearances in the UEFA Europa League.

According to BBC Sport, Tottenham have an option to make Werner’s loan deal permanent for £8.5 million. That arrangement was made last summer when Spurs decided to keep the forward at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after he moved to the North London club on a loan deal in January 2024.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has to avoid triggering that option. Even though £8.5 million is not a lot of money, Levy would be better off investing that in another player.

Werner has pace, but that it is. His end product is lacking, and the way he played against Rangers, a Scottish Premiership club, showed that he is simply not good enough to start week in and week out for a top Premier League team like Spurs.

The forward had a bad spell at Chelsea as well. The 28-year-old scored 23 goals and gave 17 assists in 89 appearances for the Blues.