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After impressing in the youthful and vibrant Lyon side that ran PSG close for the Ligue 1 title last season, Clinton N’Jie caught the eye of Tottenham and completed a move to White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Eager to build on last season's progress, Lyon and their charismatic president Jean-Michel Aulas were reluctant to sell the young forward, but the arrival of former Marseille playmaker Mathieu Valbuena changed the state of play.

So just what kind of player are Mauricio Pochettino and Spurs getting in N’Jie? We used scouting tool WyScout - the same software Premier League clubs use to assess potential signings - to find out.

(Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

N’Jie was signed by Lyon in 2010 after former defender Jean-Jacques Nono, who is also Cameroonian, had recommended him to the club. He was placed in the Lyon Olympique II side who play in the Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), the fourth division of French football, where he would continue his development.

The 2011/12 season saw him feature 14 times for Lyon II, starting six games and scoring five goals in just 601 minutes of game time. While he was not making huge waves, there were those in the higher echelons of the club who were certainly keeping an eye on him.

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2012/13 would see him training with the first team, as well as continuing to play for the second string side. The young forward only scored two goals in 26 appearances for Lyon II, a disappointing return all things considered. But he did start to feature for the Lyon first team that year, coming on as a substitute four times and playing 39 minutes of football.

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The following campaign would see more of the same for N’Jie, yo-yoing between the first and second string for the majority of the season. Another eight goals were scored in 19 appearances for Lyon II in the CFA, while three substitute appearances came without any goals in Ligue 1. In spite of his minimal impact on the first team, then Lyon manager Remi Garde clearly retained faith in the youngster.

Following the 2013/14 season, another confidence boost came from president Aulas after he tweeted “Clinton is a great player, so young, the future Eto’o”. While that may have been a statement to soon for N’Jie, you can see why the comparison was made when looking at their styles of play.

N’Jie ended the 2014/15 Ligue 1 campaign with seven goals and seven assists, and also scored in the Europa League against Romanian side Astra Giurgiu. This was a more than healthy return considering he only made 15 starts, and visible improvements in his game could be seen - especially with his movement in the final third and tracking of runners going towards his own goal.

(Image: Arfa Griffiths)

Speed

Undoubtedly, N’Jie’s main asset is his frightening pace. One example of N'Jie in full flow could be seen against Reims on April 26, 2015 where Lyon were defending a corner and their goalkeeper Anthony Lopes punched clear.

A smart lay off from Alexandre Lacazette into the path of N’Jie and the Cameroonian was gone in a flash. Sprinting from the edge of his own area to the halfway line in just under five seconds, he left the trailing Reims defenders in his wake as he launched a devastating counter attack almost singlehandedly.

While speedsters are often criticised for their lack of ‘footballing intelligence’ (cc: Theo Walcott), N’Jie is such a clever mover off the ball, always playing on the shoulder of the last defender and always looking to get in behind.

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On May 23, 2015 against Rennes, midfielder Jordan Ferri pounced on a loose ball in the middle of the park and before he was even in possession of the ball, N’Jie had zipped straight down the centre of the pitch.

A simple pass between the lines, and he breezed past the recovering defender Cheikh M’Bengue before confidently slotting the ball into the bottom corner after selling the goalkeeper a clever dummy.

Constantly moving along the forward line, the Cameroonian pops up all over the place instinctively attacking large gaps between the defence and goalkeeper, making him a constant danger and a nightmare to man mark.

Shooting/finishing

Another impressive aspect to N’Jie’s game is his ability to work the goalkeeper regularly. A common theme with young players is to become flustered in front of goal, hitting the goalkeeper or missing the target entirely when they should really be finding the bottom corners. This is natural however, and you expect finishing abilities to improve as they develop as footballers.

Despite his tender age of 21, N’Jie goes against the grain and seems to have an innate quality to finish his chances. The 2014/15 season saw the Cameroonian hit the target with 73% of his shots. While on paper this seems quite average, if you compare this number to other forwards in Ligue 1 who are under the age of 22, he is streaks ahead.

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Monaco’s Anthony Martial ended the campaign on 56%, while PSG’s Lucas Moura on 47% and Lille’s (now of Liverpool) Divock Origi on 44% were both incredibly wasteful. Not only is he cooler in front of goal than those in his age group, he can hold his own amongst the big boys in the league. Edinson Cavani (59%), Alexandre Lacazette (59%), Andre Pierre Gignac (52%) and Max Gradel (49%) are all comfortably behind the forward.

The only player in France’s top flight superior to N’Jie? You guessed it. Zlatan Ibrahimovic on 74%. While N'Jie was only able to score seven goals last season, chances come few and far between in the Premier League and having a player up front willing to snap them up at every opportunity will be a huge advantage for Spurs.

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Versatile

At just 5’9” (175cm), N’Jie will not be much use as a target man, but he is comfortable on both the left and the right flanks as well as through the middle. Having the confidence to take on players is not an issue for the Cameroonian either. Over the course of the 2014/15 campaign, N’Jie completed a total of 137 dribbles in Ligue 1, averaging 8.1 dribbles per 90 minutes.

This was a rate again, superior to those in his age group apart from Monaco’s Yannick-Ferreira Carrasco, now of Atletico Madrid, who averaged 10.3 dribbles per 90 minutes. If he were to improve in some areas, it would be learning when and when not to attempt a take on. The 21 year-old often finds himself surrounded by players, and rather than passing the ball backwards and retaining possession, he sometimes tries to take them all on at once with predictable results.

He completes 2.26 successful take ons per 90 minutes, which is still relatively impressive but some way behind PSG’s Lucas Moura, who sits ahead on 4.28. Running into dead ends may come as a result of him constantly looking to impress, after finding his time in the Lyon first XI reduced due to the good form of Nabil Fekir and Alexandre Lacazette. He will learn to curb this frustrating habit with more game time, but he has all of the raw tools he needs to become an excellent dribbler.

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While Lyon are a good fit for N’Jie due to their philosophy on youth and their willingness to always give younger players a chance to prove themselves, he will not be shaking Nabil Fekir or Alexandre Lacazette out of the side any time soon.

The arrivals of Mathieu Valbuena and Claudio Beauvue are more obstacles to overcome, which hints that the 4-3-1-2 will very much remain this season for Les Gones. That does not suit the 21 year-old’s strengths.

As he approaches his 22nd birthday, he needs regular football to really take his game to that next level and the Premier League with Tottenham could be just the place for him to do that.

He has the attributes to succeed in England, as well as having the capacity to develop. Mauricio Pochettino’s high intensity style will teach him a lot about the defensive aspect to the game, as well as allowing him to flourish while pressing and on the counter attack.

With the likes of Christian Eriksen, Nacer Chadli and Harry Kane to feed off of, N’Jie could be a very prudent signing for Tottenham, and while he is very raw, the potential is there to become a dangerous and clinical forward.

Factfile

Name : Clinton Mua N’Jie

Age : 21

Date of Birth : 15/08/1993 (turning 22 on Saturday)

Nationality : Cameroonian

Club : Lyon

Position : Forward

Height : 5ft 7in (175cm)

Weight: 10st 7lbs (68kg)

Preferred Foot : Right

Thanks to The Set Pieces for this brilliant scouting report. Read more of their awesome stuff at thesetpieces.com