Tottenham Hotspur have endured a horribly frustrating month in trying to bring fresh recruits into Antonio Conte’s Spurs machine.
Other top targets have gone elsewhere or are in discussions to go elsewhere, leaving Spurs to go for their final option of Juventus winger Dejan Kulusevki.
According to The Athletic, Spurs are expected to lodge an offer which will be in the form of an initial loan with an option to buy the player later on due to his current contract with Juventus running until 2025.
On the surface it seems like a good deal. A 21-year-old with over 70 appearances for Juventus cannot be a bad player, and Spurs managing director Fabio Paratici is a big admirer of his.
So what’s not to love? Well the aforementioned loss of other targets is the main issue here.
As good as Kulusevski is, he will be unlikely to fill the requirements of Conte’s squad, seeing as the Italian wants a right wing-back, somewhere Kulusevski has not played.
Adama Traore from Wolves was set to be this player, before Barcelona swooped in and took the Spaniard to Catalonia with Spurs haggling over the transfer fee.
Another target of Spurs was Porto’s Luis Diaz before Liverpool entered into discussions with the 25-year-old winger.
As a result, Spurs are being forced to settle for a player who will ultimately be a squad player for them. Not good enough to enter the attacking trident of Harry Kane, Lucas Moura or Heung-Min Son at present and not a right wing-back either.
This deal, while not a complete disaster, will compound an incredibly frustrating window for them, and unless Conte’s magic prevails it could see them lose out on the top four.
Weird comments really.
He can play as a no 10, and would probably work very well as a right back as well. The swedish country team are full of defensively hard-working soldiers and DK is no exception. I am seeing a huge upgrade on Dele Alli, Bryan Gil. (as he is now). and much better defensively than Traore whom I am very happy did not end up at Spurs.