Tottenham left stunned as Brentford hijack move for €30m attacker to leave Postecoglou peeved
Antonio Nusa has picked Brentford over Tottenham
Brentford have agreed a £25m (€30m) deal in principle with Club Brugge to sign winger Antonio Nusa, who had looked certain to join Tottenham in the January transfer window.
Spurs have been in talks over a move for the highly-rated teenage attacker, but it appears that their dithering has allowed Premier League rivals Brentford to jump in a hijack the deal instead.
The Norway international was expected to put pen to paper in north London before heading back to Brugge for the second half of the campaign.
And while Nusa will still be doing that, it will be as a Brentford player and not a Tottenham one.
Fabrizio Romano revealed on X that the ‘green light is ready on player side’ and the formalities now just need to be taken care of, with Nusa feeling he has a much better chance of game time with the Bees than at Spurs.
Nusa has scored four goals and added three assists in 28 games for Club Brugge this season and has made a total of 64 appearances for the club since joining from Norwegian side Stabaek in the summer of 2021.
For Brentford, it’s another solid addition in what has been an active window for Thomas Frank’s men so far.
The Bees have signed so far signed Sergio Reguilon on loan from Spurs, goalkeeper Hakon Rafn Valdimarsson from Elfsborg and midfielder Yunus Emre Konak from Sivasspor.
And while Ange Postecoglou will feel aggrieved at missing out on the talented wide man, he did bring in Timo Werner on loan from RB Leipzig to bolster his attack, while Radu Dragusin also arrived from Genoa to give the Australian another strong centre-back option.
Nusa collapse leaves Tottenham focusing on midfield signing
In some ways, not having to try and conclude the Nusa deal might give Spurs the ability to focus more on getting another midfielder through the door before the February 1 deadline.
Chelsea stand-in skipper Conor Gallagher continues to be heavily linked with a move across London, while reports on Sunday also claim that a bid could be incoming for Atalanta star Ederson Silva.
Tottenham also love a bit of late drama in a transfer window, although not quite as much as in the past under Daniel Levy.
However, if they do manage to bring in either Gallagher or Ederson before Thursday’s deadline then it will go down as a strong window for Postecoglou as he looks to keep up the club’s challenge for a top-four spot.
Spurs are back in action on Wednesday night when they, ironically, take on Brentford in the Premier League.
Revenge could be sweet!