Yesterday was a bad day for Tottenham Hotspur, but while the club failed in its bid to secure Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze after losing out to an Arsenal gazumping, the club is already briefing that it has other irons in the fire. Reports in both the Independent and the Daily Mail say Spurs are now looking at a variety of players in what’s left in the transfer window, including Como midfielder Nico Paz, Monaco attacker Maghnes Aklioiuche, and Southampton winger Tyler Dibling.
In addition to the above, the Independent’s Miguel Delaney says a hijack approach for Chelsea target Xavi Simons or Leicester midfielder Bilal El Khannous, who recently agreed to move to Crystal Palace. Another approach for past target Conor Gallagher, now at Atletico Madrid, was also mentioned. Tottenham also have seemingly not fully given up on their pursuit of Manchester City’s Savinho.
The fact that two reports have come out at approximately the same time with more or less the same list of targets could be a coincidence or simply logical thinking, but it’s more likely that Spurs are briefing friendly media, trying to get ahead of the embarrassment of yesterday’s Eze failure. Akliouche and especially Paz are seen as the most likely targets, and both are likely going to be expensive. That said, Spurs have already shown a willingness to put down large amounts of money as evident by the pursuit of Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White; the devil, as always, is in the details.
There isn’t a lot of time left in the window and there is an acknowledgement that Tottenham need additional bodies to be as competitive as possible in both the Premier League and the Champions League this season. That said, if Spurs are indeed briefing their targets, at this stage of the window it’s a pretty decent list. Let’s see what emerges in the next few days.
