Fabio Paratici to orchestrate Tottenham raid on Juventus as move fast-tracked; two more signings could follow

Fabio Paratici has brought forward plans to sign Weston McKennie for Tottenham and will spearhead the negotiations with Juventus, according to a report.

Signing McKennie has long been an objective for Tottenham. While he is not a standout player in Serie A, he represents a decent option in central midfield.

He is exactly the kind of squad player Tottenham could do with in their setup. He would be able to provide competition and backup for current midfielders Yves Bissouma, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur.

And the fact he doesn’t have a huge ego means he would be OK with not necessarily starting every big match.

McKennie’s Juve contract runs until the end of the 2024/25 campaign. This means he will not be able to move to north London on a free transfer any time soon.

Nevertheless, Spurs should be able to bring him in for a reasonable price. transfermarkt value him at €21million (£18.3m) and Juve are unlikely to request much more than this when selling the USA international.

On Wednesday, The Times revealed how Spurs’ January plans had exploded into life. They claimed McKennie to be on a three-man list of players Antonio Conte wants to land to bolster his squad.

Italian source TuttoMercatoWeb provide an update. They confirm The Times’ information on Spurs wanting to capture McKennie as early as January.

Fabio Paratici brings Tottenham transfer plans forward

A bid had initially been planned for summer 2023. But Spurs director of football Paratici has brought these plans forward and will push to sign the 24-year-old this winter.

There is also a bit of an update on how the talks with Juve may go. TuttoMercatoWeb claim Paratici will front the negotiations on behalf of Spurs.

He is tasked with getting the transfer over the line, without the club having to pay over the odds.

This should be fairly easy to do. After all, Paratici has a good relationship with those at Juve after spending 11 years working for the club between 2010 and 2021.

The potential signing of McKennie could kickstart a lively January for Spurs. Alongside the Juve midfielder, they also want to bring in players from RB Leipzig and Inter Milan, as per The Times.

The Leipzig star in question is centre-back Mohamed Simakan. He is a regular in the Leipzig team, having made 19 appearances in all competitions this season.

Spurs want Leipzig, Inter stars too

Spurs know Leipzig are a decent team to deal with as all of their players are available for transfer, as long as the price is right. This allows the Red Bull teams to continue focusing on youth development.

There is yet to be any mention of how much Simakan may cost Conte’s side. But transfermarkt value him at €28m (£24.5m).

The third and final player who could move to Spurs in January is Inter centre-half Alessandro Bastoni. He has been mentioned as a possible target in the past, and it seems Spurs are stepping up their approach to land him.

Should Spurs get both Simakan and Bastoni in, then it would see them replace Clement Lenglet before has even left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Lenglet is partway through a season-long loan from Barcelona. There is no agreement in place for a permanent move and if Simakan and Bastoni joined then there would be no room for Lenglet in Conte’s squad.

McKennie would be less likely to go straight into the starting eleven than Simakan or Bastoni. But he would be able to make his way into the side if Bissouma, Hojbjerg or Bentancur got injured.

Meanwhile, a pundit thinks one Spurs player will go back to his homeland due to being less than Championship standard in one key area.