It’s a busy day in Tottenham Hotspur Transfer Land, just one county over from Bat Country, with multiple exits from the club now being reported via various outlets. The latest of these is Mikey Moore, according to a report by The Athletic’s German correspondent, Sebastian Stafford-Bloor.
Reportedly, a number of sides are interested in signing the Spurs teenager on loan – which, of course they are – and one of those suitors is German club Borussia Dortmund. It’s yet another report very light on detail
(with more to be forthcoming, I’m sure), but even so, Stafford-Bloor tends to be pretty strong on German clubs, so if he’s reporting interest, it’s likely concrete.
Dortmund presents as an intriguing loan destination for Moore. Following a topsy-turvy loan experience in Scotland at Rangers, where he saw himself in and out of the side before a change in manager saw him become a key part of the Light Blues’ charge up the Scottish Premiership table, a step-up in league is a logical next phase in Moore’s development.
Unafraid to bring through young players and with a similar ethos around attacking football to Spurs (though that has faltered somewhat in recent years), Die Borussen could be a solid landing spot for Moore to grow, with plenty of minutes likely to be going around given Dortmund’s qualification for Europa League. That said, there are a couple of hitches here, the first of which is that Dortmund tend to not do loan deals to develop other teams’ players without getting something in return. So what is the catch? A purchase option is out of the question, so how do Spurs guarantee minutes for their starlet in a competitive Bundesliga environment?
The second is the fact that Dortmund coach Niko Kovac doesn’t really play with classical wingers. He operates with a 3-4-2-1, with the two in behind the striker deployed narrower and the wingbacks providing width. That then asks the question of where Spurs eventually see Moore playing. The thinking up until recently was that Moore was a winger, though he did spend some time in the lower youth levels deployed centrally. There are some questions though as to his pace not suiting a winger role at the top level, and Moore did spend some time in a central attacking midfield role at Rangers last season with moderate success.
What is most important for Moore at this stage though is that he gets minutes. That means he probably needs a loan, with Spurs linked with starting winger signings and Mathys Tel likely to be kept around as rotation, with his versatility and capability to play up top a bonus.
Whether or not the place he gets those minutes is Borussia Dortmund is still anyone’s guess.
