Tottenham keen on securing £26m January signing but not if it means ‘having to go crazy’

Tottenham have reportedly stepped up their efforts to sign a current World Cup star in January but are not prepared to ‘go crazy’ to get the deal over the line.

USA midfielder Weston McKennie has been on the club’s radar ever since Fabio Paratici came in as sporting director, although those links are ramping up ahead of the January window opening.

Multiple outlets claim that Spurs will make a move for the Juventus man in the new year. But it appears that talk of a switch may have to be tempered – for now.

Calciomercato claimed last week that the north London side will make their move for a player Juve value at €25m- €30m (£21.5m-£26m).

Indeed, CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs then took to Twitter over the weekend to claim Tottenham are ‘seriously considering’ the former Schalke man and that there is ‘real substance’ to the speculation.

But now La Repubblica states that Paratici is ‘not willing to go crazy’ for the attacking midfielder.

In terms of what that actually means, it could be that Juventus will look to up that price if McKennie continues to shine in Qatar.

The midfielder has impressed in a USA side that have reached the last 16. They will next face the Netherlands in the knockout stage.

Rabiot situation could impact McKennie transfer

In terms of whether or not the Turin giants choose to cash in on the player also depends on what happens with Adrien Rabiot.

The France star could also be on the move in January and that would almost certainly mean McKennie staying put.

And while Tottenham are also known to be monitoring Rabiot, he is similar to what Antonio Conte has in his engine room in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur.

McKennie is more of an attacking threat, although Conte would prefer to bring in an out-and-out playmaker instead.

The likes of James Maddison and Ruslan Malinovskyi are being tipped to take up that role. However, neither player will come cheap and it could be that Conte has to wait until the summer to get an upgrade for that position.

Alternatively, he can use Harry Kane or Dejan Kulusveski as a No.10 and then bring in Richarlison to lead the line.

The Brazilian has been in fine form at the World Cup so far and arguably has the goal of the tournament for his acrobatic volley against Serbia.

Tottenham are not back in action until Boxing Day when they head to London rivals Brentford.

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