BRISTOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 25: Joshua Onomah of Aston Villa is tackled by Marlon Pack of Bristol City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Bristol City and Aston Villa at Ashton Gate on August 25, 2017 in Bristol, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Tottenham problem: What should Spurs do with Josh Onomah?
Aston Villa want to purchase Josh Onomah from Tottenham
Tottenham sent Josh Onomah on loan to Aston Villa to gain valuable playing time for their young midfielder. It’s safe to say Onomah has made the most of his opportunity. Now, the Villains want to purchase the talented youngster on a permanent basis.
That forces Spurs into a very interesting decision. Mauricio Pochettino and company certainly planned on bringing Onomah back into their midfield mix next season, but a lot has changed since he left. Namely, Harry Winks has forced his way into the Tottenham starting XI with a string of impressive performances.
It’s important to note that Villa’s interest is quite serious. Their manager has already openly admitted that he would like to “break the bank” to sign the English starlet. Tottenham clearly have an opportunity to sell him for a significant profit.
The solution for Spurs is actually quite clear. Pochettino clearly doesn’t have enough room in his defensive midfield to accommodate Onomah at the moment. Even if Mousa Dembele’s injury woes force him into a reserve role, it won’t create enough space to allow Onomah to grow and thrive. At this point in his career he needs more playing time than Tottenham will be able to provide.
There may be other clubs better suited to develop his game than Villa, but the Villains are the club ready to splash the cash. That raises them above other clubs for the time being. For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that Aston Villa would make the largest cash offer.
Spurs should look to Barcelona and Real Madrid for inspiration with how to deal with Onomah. The logical solution is to sell Onomah to Villa for a healthy transfer fee. The funds generated from his sale could help Spurs purchase players in a position of need. It could also help compensate current first-team stars at a more appropriate level.
That does not mean Tottenham should let him go free and clear though. Instead, they should purchase a reasonable buy back clause in the agreement. This should emerge as a relatively common practice for Spurs moving forward. They will continue to churn out high-end Academy talent under Pochettino’s watchful eye. It will become more and more difficult to assimilate that many youngsters into the first team.
The solution will be to start to allow some of those prospects to leave with buy back clauses. That won’t happen for high-end talents like Alli, Winks, etc, but it’s a smart move with mid-tier prospects like Onomah. He might have been included in a higher classification of prospect in years past, but it’s clear his star has begun to diminish a bit.
If Daniel Levy and company can manage to sell Onomah for a transfer fee in excess of £15 million with a reasonable buy back clause it should be considered a solid move. It would provide Spurs an immediate infusion of transfer cash while simultaneously protecting them from a rapid development from Onomah. It’s a blueprint that Tottenham should utilize quite a bit moving forward.
