Gareth Bale's move to Real Madrid from Tottenham for £85 million was one of the worst kept secrets in world football. Spurs has since moved to replace the Welshman with a whole host of new signings, and the evidence from their recent win against Norwich City suggests that they should be in for a good season. But the man that is most likely to replace Bale did not arrive at the club for a massive transfer fee this summer. But he has already established himself as Spurs' finest performer this season. Stats from Who Scored suggests that Andros Townsend is currently the third best or third most consistent player in the Premier League. His average rating of 7.81 is only bettered by Arsenal duo Aaron Ramsay and Oliver Giroud. He also tops the league for shots and dribbles per match, standing at 5.3 and 5.7 respectively. These are certainly very encouraging numbers in terms of Townsend replacing Bale's impact. Of course, it remains to be seen if he can replace his goals but the intent is certainly there. That being said, Townsend has yet to affect a match in terms of scoring or assisting in the league and his key passes of 1.3 per match is well down the league. Nevertheless, the potential is certainly there, and comparisons aside, Spurs have a very exciting talent on their hands. Some people may have been sceptical about if he would get the opportunity at White Hart Lane this season, and hopefully he will get the opportunity to be a regular in the side. But does he have the game to truly replace Gareth Bale?
James Kent is a freelance writer published on Yahoo! Sports, Bleacher Report, FTBpro, Bloomberg Sports and many others. He has also been featured in the Daily Telegraph, Zoo Magazine, MSN Sport and the Manchester Evening News.
His role on What Culture is currently to produce compelling football articles that nearly always use of combination of stats and strong opinion. Feel free to connect with James via Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.
