Tottenham tipped for shock raid on Atletico Madrid for no-brainer Liverpool target

Tottenham Hotspur are being tipped to rival Liverpool for the signing of an Atletico Madrid defender during the remaining weeks of the summer transfer window, despite the player not really being in a position of need.

The north London club have had a remarkable window to date, completely rebuilding their backline with the arrivals of Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke, while breaking their transfer record twice in a matter of days to snap up Mateus Fernandes and then Sandro Tonali to give Roberto De Zerbi a new central midfield axis.

The focus for Tottenham now is the attacking third, with a new left-winger and another No.9 their primary objectives for the remainder of the window.

However, a fresh report from Italy claims the club are considering making a surprise raid on Spanish giants Atletico for left-back Matteo Ruggeri.

The 24-year-old defender was a regular starter for Diego Simeone’s side last season, notching seven assists in 47 games in all competitions, but that has not stopped speculation surrounding his future.

Indeed, a report from TMW claims that Ruggeri’s performances have impressed clubs throughout Europe and that Spurs and Liverpool are keen on striking a deal.

The links to Liverpool come as no real surprise, given they allowed Robertson to walk away this summer and remain in the hunt for fresh competition for Milos Kerkez, but Tottenham is a slightly different matter.

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Ruggeri to Tottenham raises more questions than answers

Should there be any substance in the TMW report, it could mean that Spurs are ready to act on concrete interest from Italy in a return to his homeland for Destiny Udogie, as TEAMtalk have previously reported.

With multiple clubs, including the likes of Man Utd and Liverpool, also looking at Djed Spence this summer, after it became clear that De Zerbi is ready to offload the England star – the link to Ruggeri might not be as outlandish as it would appear.

The former Italy Under-21 international is hitting the peak of his powers, which makes it all the more surprising as to why Atletico would consider a sale this summer.

There is no mention of what sort of fee could be commanded for the player, although Transfermarkt currently has him valued at €28m (£24m / $32m).

That figure seems low for a regular starter at one of Europe’s top clubs, especially when you consider that Ruggeri still has four years remaining on his contract in Madrid.

From Atletico’s perspective, however, they may regard the Italian as an option to raise funds to strengthen other areas of Simeone’s team, with their interest in Tottenham captain Cristian Romero still present.

One to watch then for the remainder of the window, although it arguably makes more sense for Liverpool to be chasing Ruggeri than it does for Tottenham at this stage.

Meanwhile, Spurs are now being reportedly threatened by a European giant for the signing of Manchester City attacker Savinho.

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