Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League • England
Massive Tottenham cash injection to delight Fabio Paratici, with double Italy swoop now simple
Fabio Paratici’s transfer funds at Tottenham are in line to be boosted by €30million (£25.9m), which would help the club sign two players from Italy.
Tottenham spent £130m on four players during the summer transfer window. These were Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy also green-lighted the signings of Ivan Perisic and Fraser Forster on free transfers, while Clement Lenglet arrived on loan.
Tottenham needed to capture these top players to match the ambition of Antonio Conte. He has told senior Spurs officials that they must make wholesale improvements to the squad to catch up with Manchester City.
Despite the serious spending, Spurs were still eclipsed by London rivals Chelsea and West Ham, as well as other Premier League clubs such as Manchester United.
Unfortunately for Conte, his team does not have an unlimited pot of money, which seems to be the case at City, Chelsea and Newcastle.
Spurs are continuing to adhere to Conte’s demands and are looking at bringing in more players next year. They like the look of Serie B striker Walid Cheddira, who has been in exceptional form this season. He has managed 13 goals in 13 matches for Bari in 2022-23.
Weston McKennie is another star currently playing in Italy Spurs are eyeing up. The Juventus man could be on the move as Max Allegri plans to reshuffle his midfield.
And according to CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs, a Prem move is of ‘huge appeal’ to McKennie.
Tottenham set to receive handy financial boost
While Spurs would normally go steady on their spending after parting with so much in the summer, they could receive a handy cash injection.
Sport Witness, who cite Portuguese newspaper A Bola, claim Spurs will make decent money if Sporting Lisbon sell Marcus Edwards.
The right winger came through Spurs’ academy but left in September 2019. He did not feel he would get first-team opportunities in England and joined Vitoria Guimaraes.
Edwards has since gone on to sign for Sporting, and he is making a great impression for them. He almost scored a Maradona-like goal against Spurs in the Champions League group stage last month.
And when Sporting visited Spurs on Wednesday, he made his mark by beating Hugo Lloris with a left-footed strike in the 22nd minute. Spurs eventually equalised through Rodrigo Bentancur late on and thought they won the game when Harry Kane found the net in stoppage time. But Kane’s goal was ruled out by VAR and Edwards’ side held Spurs to a 1-1 draw.
Sport Witness claim Sporting are willing to capitalise on Edwards’ form by letting him go next summer. He could leave the Primeira Liga outfit for a sum similar to Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Nunes or Nuno Mendes.
Marcus Edwards could fetch over £51m
Sporting are hoping to make as much as €60m (£51.6m) from Edwards’ departure. And Spurs will receive half of his exit fee due to a transfer clause, which could see them land £25.9m. This would be enough to bring Cheddira in, while also leaving some money left over for McKennie.
There has been talk of Edwards going back to Spurs. The club would therefore have to admit they were wrong when selling him three years ago.
But Conte already has strong options in attacking areas. Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Moura and Richarlison can all support Harry Kane when they are fit.
It is unlikely Spurs would spend another £51.6m to further improve Conte’s forward line. It would definitely be a good idea for other Prem clubs to be looking at Edwards, though.
Meanwhile, Conte has praised a Spurs player and made a surprise comparison with a Manchester City ace.