Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore is sceptical about Vincent Janssen’s ability to become a regular supplier of goals for Tottenham Hotspur next season, pointing to Afonso Alves as a reminder of how signing players from the Dutch top flight can often not work out.
After weeks of speculation and talks, Tottenham signed the Dutch striker this summer on the back of one good season at AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie, paying €20m.
Janssen was the top goal scorer in the Dutch top tier last term with 27 goals in 34 appearances, but Collymore is not sure whether the 22-year-old can regularly score goals for Spurs next season.
Replying to a Spurs fan’s tweet, the former striker wrote: “Trust me, if you’re relying on Janssen and Son [Heung-min] for 15-20 goals, you’re deluded. Son is NO back up striker.”
He insisted that there is enough evidence in recent history to suggest that strikers struggle to carry their form from the Netherlands to the Premier League, and feels the Eredivisie is not a good enough league to judge the quality of a forward.
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He replied to another Spurs fan when reminded of Janssen’s record last season: “So did Afonso Alves on leaving Heerenveen for the Premier League.
“[It] used to be a guaranteed supply line if world class. Now 1 in 5 or 6 end up good. Dutch League no barometer.”
Janssen has already said that he is looking forward to building a partnership with Harry Kane at Tottenham, and he will be out to prove his detractors wrong next season.
