Dos Santos Vs Phillips: More for our Money?

I was very happy to hear that we have been looking at wingers in this window. Petrov is most likely going to leave come the end of this season leaving us with 2 recognised wingers; Eagles and Chungy who both play on the right. I don't think their side is particularly important as most wingers can play both sides, but the situation would be far from ideal. We have 2 very promising prospects coming through in the shape of Lester and Caton who play RM and LM respectively. However they are both first year scholars and despite their fast tracking in to the reserves, they will both need another year before call ups in my opinion.

So the two names linked, aside from the unlikely Hoilett are Giovani Dos Santos and failing him, Matthew Phillips. I was happy when I heard about Gio but when I found out that Phillips was the other choice I got to thinking if he was the better option.

First impressions would be not. Giovani is a Barcalona scholar, an experienced Mexican international (53 caps) at the age of 22 and has been training with a top Premiership club for a number of years.

Matt Phillips on the other hand is a Wycombe scholar been capped to U20 level and spent one season in the Premier League. On the face of it, it seems a no contest. A number of reasons though are making me think Phillips may be the better choice:

-Giovani apparently has a poor work ethic. He goes out on weekends which I have no problem with, we're only young once, but Redknapp has criticized him on a number of occasions for coming in to training late on Mondays and then slacking off on training. Can't stand players who don't give it their all.

-His preferred option is Spain. Do we really want a player who wants to be somewhere else?

-His position is somewhat innocuous. His reported favourite position is attacking midfield. If Coyle's bringing him in as a winger we might not see the best of him. If he does kick up a fuss about not being played there we could see Mavies moved out of his role which he is outstanding at to accommodate.

-He isn't proving his Premiership credentials at Spurs. Yes, this could be because of not enough game time, but most Spurs fans have complained he is incredibly inconsistent. We already have a winger like that.

-In my opinion, Phillips has a similar potential to Dos Santos. I know I'm no football scout, and I will trust Coyle's judgement on this, but he is a very good player.

-Keeping in mind the last point, we would see a greater return on our investment on Phillips. Phillips would cost around £2M. Dos Santos £5M. More room for profit with Phillips

-Phillips scores goals. 7 goals in 15 this year for Blackpool, 5 goals in 6 for Sheff' United while on loan. Yes they are in lower leagues but for a winger that is immensely impressive. Dos Santos has a good international strike rate, but is hit and miss in club competitions.

Just some points there. I know this may come across as an anti-Dos Santos post but it wasn't my intention. I will be very happy if we sign him, I think he is a good player. However, I certainly feel that we would be getting a lot more for our money if we went with Phillips.