Tottenham could battle Man United for £40m-rated left-back
Tottenham Hotspur could reportedly solve their woes at left-back by raiding a club they did back in the summer, but the Lilywhites may face a battle against Manchester United for the player.
Tottenham expected to sign a left-back this month
Spurs have a big problem at left-back, with Destiny Udogie out with a significant injury and the two other players who can play in that role, Ben Davies and Micky van de Ven, both currently also on the treatment table.
While Djed Spence has given a decent account of himself in that position, it has been widely reported over recent weeks that the Lilywhites are expected to prioritise signing a left-back this month.
It was suggested last month that Spurs may turn their attention to Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez and an interesting update on the story has now emerged.
Tottenham could battle Man Utd for Milos Kerkez
Journalist Ben Jacobs, who has his finger on the pulse of all the latest transfer developments, has now backed up the claim about Tottenham’s interest in Kerkez, and has suggested that Postecoglou‘s men cannot be discounted in the race for the Cherries man.
However, he explained that Man Utd are currently the front-runners to sign the 21-year-old and that Andoni Iraola’s men want £40m to sell the former AZ Alkmaar man.
Jacobs said on The Last Word on Spurs: “And Tottenham are there for Milos Kerkez, for example, along with Manchester United, who are probably the front-runners at this stage. I don’t think Bournemouth will sell in January. They want 40-plus million.
“But in the summer, Kerkez has got a new agent. So let’s wait and see. And you never know, Manchester United might get PSG’s Nuno Mendes, who Ruben Amorim gave his debut at Sporting.
“And then that will be their left back covered. And then Kerkez may be available in the market to a slightly smaller pool of Premier League clubs, and the player would prefer to stay in England. So Tottenham could be there as far as Kerkez is concerned.”
What Ange Postecoglou has said about signing a left-back
Earlier this week, Postecoglou made it clear that Spurs will not enter the market for a stop-gap option in left-back just for the sake of it after Udogie’s injury.
The Spurs head coach asserted that the club would only pursue the players who had already been identified as targets and ones who would be the right fit for their system.
Postecoglou said about signing a left-back: “It depends. We’re in a tricky situation where we’ve got – obviously Ben Davies can play left-back as well – so you know we’re in this tricky situation where potentially we could have three very, very good defenders coming back into the fold very, very quickly.
“Obviously, Destiny’s going to be a bit longer, so it’s a bit of a balancing act of how much we can get through. I just don’t want to get it [wrong]. You know, the beauty of bringing in somebody like Toni (Antonin Kisnky) was that he was part of our plans anyway.
“I’m really reluctant just to bring in another body just for the sake of it. It’s got to be somebody who either fits into what we’re doing or he’s going to help us straight away. They’re the kind of criteria we’re looking at.”
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