Tottenham have turned their attentions to Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender after failing to sign Everton’s James McCarthy, reports the Daily Mirror.
The north London outfit have been rebuffed by the Toffees in their efforts to bring the Irishman to White Hart Lane, so have been forced to look elsewhere, according to the Mirror. Bender was left on the substitutes’ bench for BVB’s Europa League encounter with Wolfsburg on Thursday, and as a result may be available for a transfer.
The German was linked to local rivals Arsenal earlier in the summer [Metro], but no move materialised from the Gunners. The 26-year-old made 21 appearances for Dortmund last season, in a campaign that was marred by a knee injury. He also has seven caps for Germany, but wasn’t a part of their World Cup winning squad last summer.
SEE ALSO:
Premier League Top Goalscorer Odds
Man United transfer news: Bayern Munich in €50m bid to throw Argentine deal into doubt
(Images) Every new Premier League home kit as Manchester United reveal new strip, including Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal shirts
Spurs are interested in signing the defensive midfielder despite Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb forming a successful midfield partnership last time round. Along with Harry Kane, the pair were part of a young group who fired the team to an impressive fifth place finish in the Premier League.
However, Mauricio Pochettino will have noticed that they conceded 53 goals on the way, the joint fourth most in the division. If they are going to manage to challenge for the top four then this will have to be something that changes.
While at Southampton, the Argentine played with two defensively minded players in the middle of the park in Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama to stop leaking goals, and may look to do the same with Spurs if this move goes through. That could be bad news for England international Mason’s chances of getting in to the starting XI.