Royce' defensive signing so good he'd force major Thomas Frank rethink

Tottenham Hotspur are being tipped to make a spectacular January raid on a London rival for a high-quality central defender, who might just force the normally flexible Thomas Frank into making a permanent formation change.

Spurs have made a strong start to the new season under their new manager as they currently sit third in the Premier League table, at the time of writing, and also have four points from their opening two Champions League outings.

While that start does indeed look good on paper, Tottenham have yet to fully hit their stride, particularly in terms of their attacking play, with the likes of Dominic Solanke, Randal Kolo Muani, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison all sidelined.

One thing that has been a marked improvement, though, is the defensive side of their game under the more pragmatic Dane.

Having Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven available every week has made a massive difference in that regard, while loan signing Joao Palhinha is also having a huge impact as the midfield shield in front of that back four.

One thing that Frank has shown throughout his managerial career, however, is his tactical flexibility when it comes to changing his formation to suit opponents.

And while he has not tinkered much so far, Frank did play with a three-man defence in the Super Cup defeat to PSG, as Spurs largely outplayed the French giants before eventually losing on penalties.

That performance from the north London outfit, using Romero in the middle of a back three and having Pedro Porro and Djed Spence as wing-backs, has led to questions from many Tottenham fans as to why Frank has not gone back to playing more of a 3-5-2.

And now confirmed January links to Crystal Palace star Maxence Lacroix will only raise that question even more.

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Speedster Lacroix on Tottenham’s radar

The 25-year-old central defender has made a big impression since joining Palace from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in the summer of 2024 for a fee in the region of £18million.

And, according to a report from the Hard Tackle, Tottenham are looking to add more quality and depth to the defensive unit, with the Frenchman very much on their radar for the new year.

Lacroix is renowned for his pace and would give Van de Ven a run for his money in that regard, which is saying something. Indeed, he has been labelled a “Rolls-Royce” defender for his classy playing style in the past.

And while it’s likely to be incredibly hard to lure Palace into letting him leave, especially when they could lose Marc Guehi in January too, the signing of Lacroix would arguably give Frank a very nice headache going forward.

Arguably too good a player to use as a backup to Romero and Van de Ven, Frank could revert to that back three that outclassed PSG for so long in Italy.

Lacroix could easily slot into the centre or right of that back three and would give Tottenham and Frank arguably the quickest backline in European football as a result.

Spurs are not the only interested club, though, with Premier League rivals Liverpool also keen on potentially striking a deal of their own if they miss out on his Palace teammate Guehi again.

The report does finish off by stating that any move for Lacroix in the new year is likely to be met by a firm Palace response, as the Selhurst Park outfit continue to build on the solid foundation under Oliver Glasner that saw them lift their first piece of major silverware last season when they beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

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