Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Real Madrid eye recent Tottenham signing as potential summer reinforcement, as Ancelotti inspires surprise interest

Clement Lenglet, Richarlison and Cristian Romero of Tottenham

A player who is only in his first season with Tottenham Hotspur could leave the club in the summer after becoming a target for Real Madrid, according to a report.

Tottenham prepared for Antonio Conte’s first full season in charge by making several summer signings. The likes of Yves Bissouma, Clement Lenglet and Ivan Perisic were among their main summer additions.

The club were busy again in January, when they brought Arnaut Danjuma and Pedro Porro into the equation. But not every newcomer to the Tottenham squad has been successful in the Conte era.

For example, Djed Spence joined in the summer but it immediately became clear he wasn’t a Conte signing. He ended up having to leave on loan in the winter.

Another July addition who is now facing an uncertain future is Richarlison, who was a £60million signing from fellow Premier League side, Everton.

Richarlison initially looked like he would be putting pressure on Tottenham’s main attackers, especially when Son Heung-min went through a rough patch of form earlier in the season.

But the Brazilian attacker has seemingly lost some of the original spark he provided himself. Indeed, Richarlison is yet to get off the mark in the league for Spurs, despite making 14 appearances in the competition.

In fairness, only five of those have been starts, but that in itself is an underwhelming statistic for someone who cost so much money. The only signing in Tottenham history who was more expensive than Richarlison was Tanguy Ndombele.

He too was a flop, which is a fate Richarlison is fighting to avoid. But however the rest of the season goes for him, he could be presented with an attractive escape route by the end of it.

Richarlison on Real Madrid radar

Richarlison Tottenham September 2022

According to ESPN, which claims to have been informed by “multiple sources”, Richarlison is now being tracked by Real Madrid, who want to sign an attacker in the summer.

Reigning Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema will be out of contract with Los Blancos at the end of the season. Even if he extends his stay at the Bernabeu, there is a feeling that Madrid need extra competition. After all, current deputy Mariano Diaz will be leaving as a free agent.

The report from ESPN claims that one option they have in mind is Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic, but another is Richarlison.

Of course, current Real manager Carlo Ancelotti previously worked with Richarlison at Everton. The Italian tactician got him to contribute 20 goals from 59 appearances in their spell together.

As long as Ancelotti stays in the Spanish capital, they could theoretically reunite in La Liga. However, a deal would be difficult due to how recently Richarlison joined Tottenham. His contract there is due to last until 2027.

Spurs surely wouldn’t want to make a significant loss on Richarlison’s transfer fee. But on current form, they are unlikely to recoup what they spent.

Hence, it might be easier for Madrid to move for Vlahovic instead. The Serbia international left Fiorentina for Juventus in January 2022, but was already of interest to Los Merengues before then.

Vlahovic scored nine goals from 21 games in his first half-season with Juventus. He has followed it up with the same number of goals from 19 games this term.

But after Juventus’ 15-point deduction in Serie A, the Old Lady could be at risk of losing some of their most marketable players. Hence, there is a chance that Real could resurrect their pursuit of Vlahovic.

However, their links with Richarlison are also worth keeping an eye on, especially if the ex-Watford ace continues to struggle to get off the mark in the league for Spurs.

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