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Welcome to Sportskeeda’s Tottenham Hotspur transfer round-up – your one-stop shop for all of the Spurs transfer news and rumours during the January transfer window.
We’re now past the halfway point in the month and Mauricio Pochettino’s side have brought in no reinforcements despite some key injuries and absences, but that hasn’t stopped various news sources from reporting on all sorts of angles – and here are some of the main stories of the past few days.
Who can score goals for Spurs with Kane out?
The big news of the past couple of days has been star striker Harry Kane’s ankle injury. Kane has been practically ever-present thus far in 2018/19 and already has 20 goals in all competitions, but he picked up a semi-serious ankle injury during Tottenham’s loss to Manchester United at the weekend and it’s now been confirmed that he’ll be sidelined until March.
Last time Kane was out – around a similar time last season – Spurs did fine in his absence, but this time they’ll also be without Heung-Min Son, who is heading away to represent South Korea in the Asian Cup.
So who’s going to score the goals for Tottenham in the interim? With the only true striking option they have being Fernando Llorente, it’s no surprise that they’re being linked with all kinds of forward possibilities right now.
Writing for the BBC, Burnley’s Jonathan Walters is suggesting Spurs should make a move for West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic, claiming that “he’s a phenomenal player, good guy and would fit right in”. Sky Sports pundit Liam Rosenior meanwhile reckons Pochettino should move for Chelsea target and current Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson, stating “I look at Callum Wilson who has been linked to clubs and think he’s the perfect fit for Tottenham”.
Naturally, though, no concrete links exist for either player right now.
Could Pochettino sign Malcom?
The Daily Star is reporting that Tottenham have revived their interest in Barcelona’s Brazilian star Malcom, who can play anywhere across a front three. While he certainly wouldn’t be a like-for-like stand-in for Kane, he’d probably fit well into Pochettino’s style as another forward similar to Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son.
Malcom was apparently on the Spurs radar last summer before departing Bordeaux for the Nou Camp, but he’s struggled at the Spanish giants, starting just one LaLiga game thus far in 2018/19.
The Star claims he was offered to Chelsea in a swap deal with Willian, and while that doesn’t look likely, it has supposedly alerted Tottenham to his availability. It’s been suggested that Tottenham could take the Brazilian on loan – which would probably work given the likely dearth of transfer funds right now.
Malcom certainly fits the bill for a potential Tottenham signing as he’s still only 21 years old and Pochettino excels in getting the best out of young talent, so we shall see.
Are Tottenham looking at potential replacements for Eriksen?
The links between Real Madrid and Christian Eriksen haven’t gotten any stronger this week which definitely suggests that if the Spanish behemoths are going to make a move for the Dane, it’ll likely be in the summer transfer window rather than this month.
But that hasn’t stopped Spurs looking at potential replacements, according to reports.
The Sun is reporting that Spurs could be considering a move for Bournemouth’s Welsh midfielder David Brooks, who’s been in good form this season, scoring 5 goals and making 2 assists in 20 Premier League appearances.
The report claims Tottenham had interest in the player in the summer prior to his move to Dean Court from Sheffield United.
They do state however that Brooks is about to be offered a new £50k-per-week deal by the Cherries, though, and that might be enough to keep him at the club. Given the report suggests a potential £40m fee for the player, I’m guessing that the likelihood of the Welshman moving to North London is relatively slim.
The Mirror, on the other hand, is suggesting Ajax’s young Dutch star Frenkie de Jong could be the man to replace Eriksen, going as far as to say that Pochettino’s side will only make a move for the player should Eriksen depart for Real.
According to the report, De Jong will definitely be sold by Ajax at the end of the season and Paris St. Germain appears to be his most likely destination, but De Jong’s agent has apparently been in contact with Tottenham, who have “guaranteed” that they’d be willing to match the player’s highest suitors.
It is true that Spurs have great links with Ajax, having brought in Eriksen, Davinson Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen from the club in the past – apparently, Ajax’s director of football Marc Overmars has a “strong working relationship” with Tottenham head honcho Daniel Levy.
Given De Jong’s links to PSG and Manchester City, if Tottenham were to sell Eriksen then a signing like this would probably soften the blow to Spurs fans somewhat, so it’s worth keeping an eye on this one.
Meite to replace Dembele?
With the news that Mousa Dembele’s move to China is just about finalized, The Express is reporting that Spurs could be lining up a replacement in the form of Torino’s French midfielder Soualiho Meite. He’s made 18 Serie A appearances this season and has scored 2 goals and made 1 assist.
The same report suggests Roma have also made a bid for the player, but their move of £13.4m was shot down by Torino’s chief Urban Cairo.
The Express is suggesting that Spurs could wind up being drawn into a bidding war for the player, but given the price doesn’t look that steep right now, this is definitely the kind of move that could be a possibility for Tottenham.
Have Tottenham coaches watched Jarrod Bowen?
Football London is focusing on the fact that despite Spurs being praised for the development of their young English players, they haven’t actually signed a British talent since Kieran Trippier arrived at White Hart Lane in June 2015 – a fact not lost on Pochettino, who now has too many foreign players for his Premier League and Champions League squads.
That suggests he could look to bring in homegrown talent, and the man the report suggests the club are looking at is Jarrod Bowen of Hull City.
Pochettino recently claimed he hadn’t even heard of the player – who has scored 13 goals in the Championship this season – but Football London is reporting otherwise and states that the Spurs boss actually sent scouts to watch him in action against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend.
If that’s true, those scouts would’ve seen Bowen score two more goals in a Man of the Match-level performance.
At 22 years old, Bowen clearly fits the bill of a potential Tottenham player – not only can he play from the right side of midfield or as a second striker, but he’s also been praised for his work rate in tracking back defensively. And with a potential fee of just £18m, he could prove to be a bargain.
