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Five things to know about Tottenham transfer target Sebastian Driussi

Reports that Tottenham Hotspur are interested in River Plate starlet Sebastian Driussi are only the latest part of an increasingly impressive season for the young forward. But who is he, and how does he play?

Here are five things Spurs fans need to know about the 20-year-old striker.

1. At first, he was too versatile for his own good

When you hear that your team is interested in a striker, it's only natural to have a look at the player's stats. How many goals has he scored? In how many matches? But those figures for Driussi are misleading, because the raw numbers don't tell the story.

Driussi debuted for River's first team in Dec. 2013, a couple of months before turning 18, and in his early years he was a victim of his own versatility.

One of the youngest members of a team which was regaining confidence after that historic relegation in 2011 -- six months after Driussi's debut, River have claimed their first top flight title since that trauma -- Driussi played sparingly at first. When he did feature, he was generally deployed as a winger or an attacking midfielder. So while five goals in his first 63 appearances sounds unimpressive for a young striker, it has to be remembered that he only occasionally played as a forward during that time.

With that information, his record so far this season -- thirteen goals in 22 appearances -- looks less like an aberration and more like a player finally winning his preferred place in the team, and proving he merits the spot.

2. He had goalscoring pedigree at youth level

If his recent explosion since moving up front for the first team doesn't convince you, perhaps Driussi's record with River's youth sides will. In June 2013, River won the Under-17 World Club Cup thanks to Driussi's strike in the final against Atletico Madrid. He was the competition's top scorer.

Driussi is not the tallest player by today's standards, at 5-foot-10, but he knows how to use his head when necessary. When first breaking through into River's first team, despite of his goalscoring feats at youth level, he spoke of himself primarily as a No. 10, which in Argentina of course means a playmaker behind the main strikers. Perhaps that was a move to not appear uncomfortable in the midfield roles he was often given.

Whether he was putting a brave face on it or not, one thing is true: he has wonderfully quick feet and a good eye for where his teammates are as well as where the goal is.

3. River realised what they had at an early age

Driussi first joined River's legendary youth system when he was just nine years old, and not long after, having shown he was a level above his peers in the children's divisions, his family received an offer too good to turn down from the club. River agreed with him (or rather his agent -- he already had one even at that young age) to pay him US$40,000 before he began life in the professional youth divisions which would lead, eventually, to the first team.

The decision to sanction such a big payment for such a young player caused controversy, but it was clear River wanted to ensure they wouldn't lose him, and a mark of how highly they thought of him.

4. He's represented his country at every youth level

It's not all that common for players who excel at U15 level to continue to rise through the ranks of national teams at U17 and U20 level, like Driussi has done.

After a couple of goals in the 2011 South American Under-15 Championship, he bagged five in seven games in the South American Under-17 Championship in 2013, and scored twice in eight appearances at that year's Under-17 World Cup.

By the time he moved up to Argentina's Under-20s he was getting less practice up front due to his nascent River first-team career seeing him used in other positions, and his scoring rate fell off -- although he did score an eye-catching overhead kick in the 2015 South American Under-20 Championship, which Argentina won.

5. His breakthrough year came in 2016

A year ago, Driussi gave an interview to a River fan site in which one of the few things he said was that: "You always have to work and try to do things the best way possible, to try and give the coach a bit of a headache when it comes to deciding who he's going to put [on the pitch]."

He managed that, and then some. During the first half of 2016, Driussi remained a squad-rotation option in midfield, but a squad shakeup in the middle of the year and a change of system by manager Marcelo Gallardo saw Driussi finally given a chance as a striker.

He seized it with both hands. In the second leg of the Recopa Sudamericana -- the South American Super Cup played between the winners of the previous year's Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana -- he scored his first goal in over a year, and he barely looked back thereafter.

So far this league season, River have scored 22 times, and 10 of those have come from Driussi's feet or head. In all competitions, River scored 39 goals in the second half of 2016 -- Driussi hit 13 and his strike partner Lucas Alario (another forward linked with a move to Europe) 14.

Driussi always seemed optimistic he'd nail down a place in River's attack, but now he finally has the result has been less an emergence than an explosion onto the scene. It's not hard to see why. Dovetailing beautifully with Alario, Driussi's already strong technique and the above-mentioned fleetness of foot have been allied to a nose for goal and intelligence of movement in the box which Driussi himself says has been honed watching videos of Luis Suarez at Gallardo's suggestion.

Whether he goes to Spurs or elsewhere, this youngster is one to keep an eye on.