Giovani Dos Santos was once dubbed the ’next Ronaldinho’ but this next bright star of the future seems to have made little impact on the most important man of all – his boss, Harry Redknapp.
When the Mexican winger made the move from Barcelona to North London for a very handsome fee of around €6 million, it was seen as quite a coup for Tottenham Hotspur. Under the tutelage of Juande Ramos, the young Mexican was given opportunities but we all know that Ramos’s time didn’t last too long and in came Mr Redknapp.
The former Portsmouth boss has done an incredible job at White Hart Lane but he has failed in producing the best out of a talented youngster, who has the credentials to be a world beater. The fact is, Giovani has rarely been given any opportunities at all by the Spurs boss and has been shipped out on loan to Ipswich Town, Galatasaray and most recently, Racing Santander.
Giovani is not the first youngster that Redknapp has failed to acknowledge in his time at the Lane as he shipped out, the now growing stars of Kevin-Prince Boateng and Adel Taarabt in his early days at the club, due to not being able to find a way to incorporate them into the team.
Boateng now plays for AC Milan and has earned plaudits across the world of football after a magnificent world cup display in South Africa last summer. Adel Taarabt is of course one of the most promising and sought after youngsters in world football, being linked with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United. Redknapp, however, seemed unable to spot the talents of these two young midfielders.
If the club were to have kept these players on for longer then surely it would have left them in better stead to challenge for that Champions League spot last season. Also, they may not have been so worried about losing Luka Modric this summer, if they had the genius, Adel Taarabt to fall back on. Truth be told, the Tottenham hierarchy have made a real faux pas in shipping these players out and they run the risk of doing it again with the Mexican prodigy.
Giovani Dos Santos has been criticised by Harry Redknapp for his supposed lack of professionalism.
This sort of attitude from a footballer is not one that will take you far and if the Mexican is wasting his time out and about at nightclubs at the weekend then he is at fault, but for young footballers this is not uncommon. This happens all the time with youngsters who have got cash to splash but the gaffer just has no interest in helping this talent progress and it is difficult to see why.
Anybody who saw the recent Gold Cup and particularly the final between Mexico and USA will have seen the raw talent this 22-year-old possesses and will be disappointed by the stall in his career.
The winger scored an immense winning goal after dribbling the ball around several players, including the goalkeeper before exquisitely chipping the ball into the top corner to secure a 4-2 victory for Mexico and crown themselves Gold Cup champions.
This beautiful goal topped off a man of the match performance by the Tottenham man, in a game where he showed great drive and determination. Every time the ball came to his feet, onlookers and the USA defence knew something was going to happen and every time, it did!
The forward was constantly running towards goal with the ball, dribbling past several players and playing great link-up player with Manchester United revelation, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez.
At no point did Giovani show any signs of lack of professionalism as he inspired to whole team throughout the match before leading them into the final whistle as champions.
Redknapp surely knows what a talent he has on his hands and must see his quality in training every week and so it baffles spectators as to why he won’t help this young player become the player he is destined to be. Maybe the Spurs boss just does not have the capabilities to guide such players, as was the case with Adel Taarabt and Kevin-Prince Boateng.
Redknapp could not figure out how to use Taarabt in an effective manner and take the risk of playing him in the role behind the striker. A couple years later, he signed Rafael Van Der Vaart who filled that position between midfield and defence, proving he couldn’t create his own superstar bt instead had to fork out cash for an already establish bearer of that role.
It looks as though the same will happen this summer with Giovani Dos Santos, who looks intent on making the switch back to Spanish shores and linking up with Sevilla in a £6.5Million move.
It is impossible to predict the transfer sage of Luka Modric and whether he will go or not, but the fact remains Harry Redknapp will constantly toe the party line – ‘we are not a selling club, we will not sell our best players’. Probability is that Giovani Dos Santos will leave this summer and Redknapp will have lost one of the best young talents to grace the Premier League in a long time, all because the gaffer was too scared to just take a risk on the young lad.
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