Dos Santos looks to prove his point

Giovani Dos Santos has made only seven appearances for us in two seasons at White Hart Lane and at one time could only find first-team football by going out on loan to the Championship with Ipswich Town. He earned his place in Portman Road folklore by scoring the winner in the East Anglia derby against Norwich and he looked a different class in the Championship, scoring four goals in his eight games before another injury cut his spell short.

The 21-year-old forward put his Premier League frustration behind him this summer and came out of the World Cup as one of its brightest young stars. He was short listed for the Young Player of the Tournament in South Africa.

Dos Santos finished last season on loan at Galatasaray but looks set to be given a chance this season by Harry Redknapp. The Mexican has looked sharp in pre-season, setting up Gareth Bale's winner against Benfica in the 1-0 friendly win. The striker was also the one positive thing about the 4-1 defeat to Villarreal - he looked sharp all night and grabbed a goal as Spurs were taken apart.

When Spurs signed Dos Santos in the summer of 2008 we were excited to see a player from the famed Barcelona youth set-up. However, this attacking player who is equally adept at playing on the wing has yet to stamp his authority on White Hart Lane but, to be fair, the Mexican International has hardly had a chance to make his presence felt due to a succession of ankle injuries and loan moves. The injuries look to be behind him now and this could the season where Dos Santos truly arrives in the Premier League. The Aston Villa betting suggests we should finish well ahead of them and Giovani could be an important back-up striker as Spurs look to put clear blue water between them and the chasing pack.

He showed his ability at the World Cup this summer for Mexico. Dos Santos was one of their best players, operating just behind a main striker. When he was at Barcelona, comparisons were made between dos Santos and Ronaldinho, although fans haven't seen much proof of that during his time in London. Pundits like Andy Gray probably won't give Spurs much chance of doing well this season, but we proved the experts wrong last time out and the club will need all the players they can to push on from last term.

Redknapp needs to show the youngster he has confidence in him. If he's given a decent run in the team, there is a good chance that Dos Santos could turn out to be as good as a new signing for us. It won't harm the team to have the Mexican in the squad as we look to challenge both domestically and in Europe.

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