Tottenham Hotspur have arguably been the most proactive Premier League side in the 2024 January transfer window. The Lilywhites have worked swiftly and efficiently in the transfer market, strengthening their squad with the acquisition of some necessary depth into key areas of Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Spurs surprised many with the signing of Timo Werner on loan from RB Leipzig for the remainder of the 2023/24 season, with there being an option to sign him permanently next season too. On top of that, they also signed highly-rated Serie A defender Radu Dragusin, a relatively emotional transfer for the Romanian football fraternity.
With that being said, as their recent FA Cup elimination at the hands of Manchester City indicated, Tottenham are still in need of some prolific players in key positions.
Postecoglou is well aware of the need to sign players that can not only improve Spurs’ chances of pushing for a top-4 finish in the Premier League, but also with long-term goals in mind. With that being said, let’s take a look at the latest transfer news on Spurs on some interesting targets.
Antonio Nusa
Tottenham appear to be obsessed with the acquisition of Norwegian wonderkid Antonio Nusa, who has been turning heads with his performances for Club Brugge.
The 18-year-old has five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) in 15 league appearances for the Belgian side this season – earning his reputation for being a menacing winger because of his dribbling ability, speed and final product.
Despite his age, Nusa has already made 63 appearances at the senior level for Brugge and also made four appearances for the Norway national team.
Fabrizio Romano had recently hinted that Tottenham are pushing to close an agreement with Brugge to sign Nusa in the January transfer window, possibly a move that will see him join the Premier League side in the summer.
Norway-based journalist Francois Plateau has now also indicated that the general feeling around Nusa’s situation is that he will be playing for Tottenham next season.
With just a few days remaining in the January transfer window, Spurs need to work swiftly to get this deal over the line and ensure nobody can hijack their advances for the teenage wonder.
That is because it has also been rumoured that over 10 European clubs are vying for the signing of the Club Brugge youngster – including Premier League rivals Chelsea.
Late Conor Gallagher Bid?
Conor Gallagher has been stuck in a bit of a precarious position at Chelsea. Despite being one of their most efficient and consistent players this season, notching up four assists in 20 Premier League appearances, the 23-year-old’s contract situation has caused questions to be raised on his future at Stamford Bridge.
Even though the Cobham academy youth product has played consistently under Mauricio Pochettino, it appears that the higher-ups might be open to selling him like they did to Mason Mount or Kai Havertz last summer due to their deals running out soon. Now, Football Insider has claimed that the Lilywhites are ready to make one last attempt to sign Gallagher just before the transfer window closes on February 1st.
Postecoglou’s side are rumoured to be set to make a last-gasp bid to sign the England international from their bitter rivals. Spurs had reportedly ended their interest in Gallagher, but have now revived it after missing out on the signing of Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips – who ended up joining West Ham United on a loan until the end of the season.
Postecoglou has prioritized the addition of one more midfielder into his squad to improve his options going forward and believes the energetic, hard-working style of Gallagher can be ideal for his side. The stumbling block over this deal with less than a week remaining in the winter window is that Chelsea wants a whopping £80 million fee for their academy product and are obviously not desperate to sell him yet – making it tough for Spurs to sign him permanently and keep their financial fairplay situation in check.
Fabrizio Romano has also confirmed that the Blues are not at all ready to sell Gallagher for a ‘cheaper’ fee of £30 million or so. Hence, the only way that Spurs can actually get this transfer done is if they are able sell a player like Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for a considerably high fee and earn the revenue needed to make a big-money signing of Gallagher.
Fabio Paratici
Speaking of midfield targets, it doesn’t seem like Gallagher is the only player that the North London heavyweights are circling around. Tottenham have delved into the Serie A transfer market multiple times over the last few years – having signed the likes of Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie and obviously most recently Radu Dragusin from the Italian scene.
A major reason behind their trust in Serie A products being able to excel for them is because of the help of suspended football director Fabio Paratici. The Italian executive has been banned by FIFA for being involved in financial crimes during his time at Juventus, but it’s been since rumoured that Paratici is still acting as a secret ‘advisor’ to Tottenham in an unofficial way since leaving the club in April 2023.
It has now been reported by Italian outlet Corriere Bergamo that Spurs have made attempts to sign Atalanta midfielder Ederson in the winter transfer window. The 24-year-old has been an efficient player in the Serie A, scoring five goals and contributing an assist in 20 appearances from a central midfield role.
But there is more when it comes to explaining the reason behind Spurs’ attempts to sign him. That is because Corriere Torino has now stated that Tottenham have only pushed to make a move for Ederson because of a ‘tip’ they received from Paratici urging them to sign him.
Paratici played a role in the signings of players like Vicario and Udogie, but he might have ulterior motives for convincing Spurs to sign the robust, creative Atalanta midfielder.
It has been stated that Juventus have shown an interest in potentially signing Ederson too and that Paratici wants to get ‘revenge’ over his former side by prying away their target with the help of Tottenham.
With that being said, Atalanta has already declined Spurs’ advances for their 24-year-old midfielder and does not want to see any key players leave in January.
Tanguy Ndombele
Tanguy Ndombele’s story at Tottenham is one marked with misfortune. After being signed by the Lilywhites for a club-record fee of over £50 million from Olympique Lyonnais in 2019 – there was a lot of expectation that the Frenchman would be the next big thing for the Lilywhites.
However, his entire spell at North London has been plagued with either injuries or large bouts of inconsistency. Ndombele just couldn’t show enough desire to succeed for Tottenham, failing to maintain peak fitness levels for larger periods of a season and frustrated fans with his inconsistency – only scoring 10 goals and providing 9 assists in 90 appearances for Spurs.
Ndombele has spent the last few seasons being ping-ponged around in loan spells. He spent the second half of the 2021/22 season on loan at Lyon, which didn’t prove especially rewarding. The Frenchman was then signed by Italian side Napoli on a loan for the 2022/23 season, and ended up winning the Serie A title with them and being used in a rotational role – having made 40 appearances for them.
Napoli, however, did not want to spend major money to sign him permanently and forced him to return to Tottenham last year. The Frenchman ended up being loaned out to Galatasaray – for whom he has only started five games in the first half of the season.
Now, Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb is reporting that Tottenham are thinking of ending Ndombele’s loan spell at Galatasaray and selling him permanently. It is stated that Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq, who recently parted ways with Jordan Henderson, are interested in signing Ndombele permanently alongside Ligue 1 side Rennes – who want to bring him back to France. The potential sale of the French midfielder can also help bag Spurs some decent revenue which they can use to make another late signing in January.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has had a strange spell at Tottenham after Postecoglou’s arrival. It was rather clear that the new manager was ready to let him leave in the summer and the experienced midfielder also pushed to leave for Atletico Madrid, who held talks with Spurs over a move. However, an agreement was never reached.
Hojbjerg has ended up playing in a sporadic role for Tottenham – even as a defender at times this season and mostly as Yves Bissouma or Pape Matar Sarr’s alternative. It is being claimed by journalist Tom Barclay that Spurs are not ready to send Hojberg on loan until the end of the season before the January window closes.
Spurs have reportedly decided that they are only looking to sell the Danish midfielder permanently in the summer to raise some funds needed for a possible replacement. With the Conor Gallagher deal reportedly being stuck due to a lack of funds, the Lilywhites probably have to work around the clock to find suitors that will sign Hojbjerg permanently in the next few days.
