Adama Traore is the perfect answer to Tottenham's right-sided problem
By Ross Jackson
Fabio Paratici and Nuno Espirito Santo have cast their net far and wide as they look to strengthen Tottenham's squad this summer, with seemingly no major European league off limits.
Incomings from Serie A, La Liga and the Bundesliga are all either rumoured or already confirmed, yet the answer to one of their biggest problem positions - right-sided forward - could be a lot closer than they think.
Adama Traore was signed by Nuno for Wolves back in 2018, and despite some teething problems the Spaniard showed glimpses of the world-class talent that's seen the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea previously credited with an interest in him.
A reunion between the pair at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been touted of late, with newly-appointed Wolves boss Bruno Lage eager to put his own stamp on the Wolves squad and subsequently open to a plethora of big-name departures.
Obviously there's many areas of Spurs' squad that are in need of attention over the coming weeks, but the addition of Traore to the right-side of their front three would be a massive step forward for a club looking to challenge for Champions League football once again.
The partnership of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min is the only reason Tottenham even mustered an underwhelming seventh-place finish last season, with the former's role as protagonist in an ongoing transfer saga threatening to plunge the club into mid table obscurity.
Many have tried to fill the void on the right of Spurs' front three, with Steven Bergwijn and Gareth Bale the latest to try and add balance to Tottenham's frontline, though neither could match the quality of the aforementioned duo on a consistent basis.
Suggesting Traore can be the answer to a lack of consistency might sound ludicrous to those who take the word of pundits and commentators as gospel, but anyone who regularly watches the jet-heeled winger will know the 'lack of end product' stick he's regularly beaten with is purely a myth.
Traore is a player - like many others - who needs to be confident to play to the best of his ability. Without confidence he's little more than a placeholder in the frontline who's almost afraid to showcase his talents for fear of failure.
To get the best out of the Spain international a manager needs to show the utmost faith in his ability, first of all by ensuring him he's key to his future plans and secondly by playing him in his preferred position.
Nuno will already know this having seen the struggles Traore endured during his time at Molineux when used as an impact sub or asked to play in an unfamiliar wing-back role, and so this experience of the winger's temperament should see Nuno well-equipped to get the best of the Spaniard should he move to Spurs.
Tottenham have already started looking to address the lack of depth in their frontline having secured the signing of highly-rated youngster Bryan Gil, but shoehorning a left-sided player onto the right isn't going to add the balance to their strike force that they've been crying out for.
Not only would Traore solve that problem, he's also one of the few players in the Premier League capable of keeping pace with Son on the opposite flank when Tottenham break at pace - a facet of their game which will prove crucial in their efforts to regain their spot in the top four.
The thought of Son and Traore tearing teams apart before laying chances on a plate for Kane is enough to send shivers down the spines of Spurs' competitors - and if Kane does leave they could probably wheel Vincent Janssen back to north London and even he'd manage to score goals with the amount of chances he'd be given.
Traore is a lot closer to the finished article than most pundits give him credit for. The trick is to know where and how to play him, and having already spent three years figuring this out Nuno could be the man to unlock his world-class potential at Spurs.