Paratici torpedoes Tottenham hopes to give Liverpool, Man City free run at fearsome forward

Tottenham Director of Football, Fabio Paratici, has left the door ajar for Liverpool or Manchester City to pounce for a deadly striker after his latest comments ruled Spurs out of the running.

Tottenham managed to retain the services of Harry Kane despite the best efforts of Manchester City this summer. But while Kane’s future remained uncertain for large parts of the window, Spurs reportedly began lining up potential replacements.

One player identified was Fiorentina’s free-scoring hitman, Dusan Vlahovic.

The Serbian, 21, plundered 21 Serie A goals last season in a break-out year. He has continued to find the net with regularity this term. Vlahovic has notched six goals from his first eight matches across all competitions.

But unfortunately from Fiorentina’s perspective, Vlahovic’s time in Florence will soon come to an end.

Just five days ago, Fiorentina chief Rocco Commisso confirmed Vlahovic would be leaving the club in an upcoming window after rejecting the club’s proposals over a new contract.

That prompted renewed links with Tottenham and Man City after Pep Guardiola’s side were credited with interest after their Kane pursuit fell short.

Liverpool were next to enter the frame. The Mirror claimed transfer guru Michael Edwards was planning a £77m Vlahovic transfer as his final act on Liverpool’s transfer committee.

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Precisely where Vlahovic will end up, only time will tell. But per trusted journalist Fabrizio Romano, it won’t be Tottenham.

Romano tweeted a quote from Spurs chief Paratici said during the Festival dello Sport. Paratici said: “Dusan Vlahovic is appreciated by many clubs, it’s normal. He’s not in our plans, for now”.

In subsequent tweets, Romano carried further quotes from Paratici that shed more light on the club’s striker situation.

Paratici added: “I’m not gonna speak about Dusan Vlahovic as he’s under contract with Fiorentina… and also because we’ve Harry Kane who’s the best centre-striker in the world.

“Harry Kane loves Tottenham. We’ve decided to keep Harry last summer to start the re-building, and we’re happy with our choice. There’s no need of any new talk with Harry. He knows how to share the sense of belonging to Spurs”.

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Tottenham eye £51m double Juventus raid

Instead, Tottenham are being tipped to make a £51million double raid on Juventus for Weston McKennie and Dejan Kulusevski.

Calciomercato reports that Sweden forward Kulusevski has yet to convince Max Allegri he is worthy of regular first-team football, with Juve having spent €40m on the player two years ago.

The report adds that Spurs will try and sign the forward on loan with an obligation to buy for a similar amount to what Juventus paid for him.

As for McKennie, who is also a target for West Ham, the price tag is reportedly no less than €20m. Juve are looking immediate buyers due to the player’s reported ‘off-field behaviour’.

Paratici knows the player well, having him brought him to Turin during his time at Juve.

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