Antonio Conte could finally be close to finding the right-sided attacker he has been seeking all summer with players desperate to come to White Hart Lane.
Working with chairman Daniel Levy and managing director of football Fabio Paratici, the holes in the Tottenham squad have been targeted one-by-one and realistically all that is needed before the window shuts is a centre-back and one more attacking option. That latter weakness has seen a long list of names linked with the club, most recently Anthony Gordon, who is being hotly pursued by Chelsea.
But if Thomas Tuchel does land his man, it may also play right into Antonio Conte’s hands.
Ziyech after fresh Premier League start
The Morocco international who built his reputation in the Dutch league feels he has not really done himself credit so far in the Premier League.
He has been linked with a return to Ajax this summer, but would rather stick with his mission in England with the opportunity of a fresh start. Algemeen Dagblad, based in Holland, reported Tottenham’s interest in the left-footed right-winger as competition for Dejan Kulusevski.
Now Johan Derksen, a veteran journalist who played in the Eredivisie in the 1970s when Dutch football was in its pomp, has explained why his ideal future remains in London. “Ziyech was the big star in the Netherlands,” he told Today Inside. “I can imagine that he would prefer Tottenham, because he still wants to succeed in England.”
Malinovskyi opens door for move
The contenders for that wide-right spot continue to keep coming thick and fast and having reached an impasse with Roma over a move for Nicolo Zaniolo, Ruslan Malinovskyi is very much on the radar.
The Atalanta player, a Ukraine international with 49 caps rated at £18m, had looked bound for Marseille, with Turkey international Cengiz Under heading to Italy in return. However, Calcio Mercato are reporting that Under “doesn’t want to leave Marseille, even less so for Atalanta”.
At the same time, Malinovskyi is reported to have expressed his own preference for Tottenham, opening the door for a move.
Reguilon off
Not everybody is that keen to come to Spurs, however, and left-back Sergio Reguilon is keen on a move away to get the first-team football he needs to force his way into the Argentina World Cup squad.
Maurizio Sarri is keen to take him to Lazio, according to Sport Witness, first on a loan deal, but with a view to a permanent transfer.
With Ivan Perisic’s arrival pushing him further down the pecking order at White Hate Lane, Tottenham would be more than happy with that sort of proposal. And Sarri’s hand may have been pushed further by the decision of his other left-back target, Emerson Palmieri, to sign for West Ham instead.
