Tottenham can save millions on Eberechi Eze transfer as new undroppable emerges for Thomas Frank

Tottenham can count themselves hugely unlucky not to have won the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday night. And that's saying something.

Plenty of Spurs fans would have been going into the clash with Paris Saint-Germain with much trepidation - this reporter included.

Having just lost 4-0 to Bayern Munich in the final pre-season friendly of the summer and with holes in the squad still to be filled with transfers, coupled with PSG's incredible run to winning the Champions League and almost winning the Club World Cup too, it was only right to be nervous for what was to come.

But what was to come was a tactical masterclass from Thomas Frank. PSG may have dominated the ball, but it was Tottenham who realistically dominated the match up until the final ten minutes.

Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero bagged the goals to hand Spurs a 2-0 lead and were it not for a couple of good saves from Lucas Chevalier and the woodwork, it could have been more.

PSG were not in it at all until the closing stages, but their substitutions, and the ones Frank made for Spurs, made the difference.

Lee Kang-in and Goncalo Ramos scored late on to take the tie into a penalty shootout and the French side were victorious 4-3.

With James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski sidelined, Spurs do not have a player to fill the No.10 role currently. The questions before the match centred around who would fill the void.

Pape Matar Sarr stepped forward. And some. It may not be his familiar role, but he took to it like a duck to water.

For all the talk of needing a No.10 and Eberechi Eze being the man to save the day, the Crystal Palace star might have a job on his hands squeezing Sarr out if he turns in more performances like the one on Wednesday night.

The Senegalese was everywhere, biting into tackles, winning the ball, driving Spurs forward. Basically doing everything he would normally do, just higher up the pitch.

Sarr was the third best player on the pitch according to FotMob - behind Vitinha and Ousmane Dembele - although that is certainly up for debate.

He won the most duels of anyone on the pitch (9) and enjoyed a 73% passing accuracy - not bad for a player pushing forward. He recovered the ball seven times, mainly high up the pitch and was generally a bundle of energy, supporting Richarlison and Mohammed Kudus.

The stats may be more kind to him in a defensive capacity, but that is not unexpected against a team like PSG. Sarr will likely be given the nod to play the No.10 role against Burnley in the Premier League opener on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if he can push the team on against a more limited opponent if given more time and space on the ball to pick passes and make more contributions in an attacking sense.

A new No.10 is imperative, but Sarr can certainly fill the void for now if Wednesday is anything to go by.

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