A perfect Dembele replacement? Why Tottenham should go all out to sign this 20-year-old Napoli starlet

Why Amadou Diawara could be Tottenham Hotspur’s next Mousa Dembele

Napoli midfielder Amadou Diawara’s agent has claimed that the player is receiving attention from the Premier League, amid reports of interest from Tottenham Hotspur, as per Tutto Mercato Web.  

Last month, Italian outlet Calcio Napoli 24 exclusively reported that the 20-year old midfielder was being monitored by Tottenham, with a summer move being considered. With his agent now dropping hints of interest from the English top-flight, it seems Spurs are keen on getting Diawara.  

The Guinean midfielder started off his career with homeland club FC Sequence before earning a move to Italian side San Marino in 2015. After a brief spell, he was signed by Bologna, where he began to make a name for himself. Having had a very impressive 2015/16 season with Bologna, Diawara was snapped up by Napoli in the summer of 2016.  

The 20-year-old clocked 28 appearances (18 starts) in his first season with the Partenopei, with returns of a solitary goal and assist apiece. In the ongoing 2017/18 campaign, Diawara has taken the pitch on 22 occasions, however, only 9 have been from the start.  

This is believed to be a cause of frustration for the youngster who is seeking game time. But he hasn’t been able to get it consistently for Maurizio Sarri’s side, owing to the presence of the likes of Marek Hamsik, Jorginho, Allan and Piotr Zielinski, who are all ahead of him in the pecking order. 

An extremely impressive midfield enforcer, Diawara has demonstrated quality and maturity that belie his young age. The 20-year old’s understanding of the game and the ability to sense dangers is something that sets him apart. Best suited to the role of a ball-winning midfielder, Diawara is most effective when he presses the opponent, disrupts the play and launches counter-attacks from the back.  

Diawara recovers possession at a very high rate in the middle of the park but what stands out is that he can use the possession very effectively to launch attacks, either by needling in a through ball or by playing delectable over-the-defence passes for teammates to run on to. In the ongoing season, he averages a total of 67.4 passes every 90 minutes, at an extremely impressive accuracy rate of 92.4%. 

Very much in the mould of Tottenham Hotspur’s very own Mousa Dembele, Diawara has demonstrated all the requisite qualities and attributes to flourish into an aggressive box-to-box midfielder, a midfield ‘destroyer’. Though he is very highly thought of at Napoli by the coaches and the manager himself, given that his game time is unlikely to improve, the midfielder could consider a move in the summer. 

The Guinean midfielder has seen just a little over two seasons at the top level and is very much a raw talent but has shown all the right signs of growing into a star player. With Dembele’s age and injury problems, Tottenham could get their hands on a readymade replacement for their Belgian superstar in the shape of Diawara, if they sign him in the next summer.