Tottenham Hotspur recruitment chiefs are being sent on regular missions to one club as manager Ange Postecoglou personally considers a forward signing.
Tottenham monitor new forward options after mixed start to season
The Lilywhites have endured a pretty stop-start beginning to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, winning four, losing four and drawing one of their opening nine top-flight matches so far.
This last week has been a prime example of Spurs’ inconsistency. The north Londoners slumped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace last weekend, handing Oliver Glasner his first league win of the season, but swiftly followed that up by knocking English champions Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.
Postecoglou caused a stir by appearing to promise supporters a trophy this year, stating he “always” wins things in his second season, but the Australian needs to start seeing more consistency from his team before Tottenham can ponder ending their 16-year wait for silverware.
A tough test awaits on Sunday, as high-flying Aston Villa travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Unai Emery’s side have picked up right where they left off from last term, and look sure-fire contenders for another finish in the top four.
To shore up weak areas of Postecoglou’s squad, and with the view of potentially challenging for the Premier League over these coming seasons, it is believed Spurs have their eyes on further attacking options.
Tottenham have made an out-of-window approach to sign Rayan from Vasco da Gama and are prepared to hijack Lyon’s ongoing talks for the forward, according to a report from Brazil this week.
Elsewhere, Spurs links to Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze remain, while it is believed Shakhtar Donetsk sensation Georgiy Sudakov is viewed by Tottenham as an ideal James Maddison alternative.
Tottenham recruitment chiefs sent on Dario Osorio missions
According to GiveMeSport, FC Midtjylland forward Dario Osorio is being contemplated as a potential signing by both Postecoglou and technical director Johan Lange – who are going through detailed scouting reports on the Chile international.
The outlet writes that Tottenham have been sending recruitment chiefs to Midtjylland to regularly check on Osorio. The South American winger has bagged three goals and an assist in 13 appearances this season, which has seemingly been enough to make the N17 side ponder a potential move.
While his signing is ruled out for January, Osorio’s possible switch to England is seen as entirely possible for next summer. It is also claimed that “key decision-makers” at Tottenham sense an opportunity to sign a highly rated forward on very low wages, while other reports suggest the cost of a deal for Osorio would be around £10 million.
Osorio has been called the next Angel Di Maria, highlighting his growing reputation as a rising star of his country, and Tottenham’s penchant for signing young stars like Lucas Bergvall and Luka Vuskovic in the past two seasons indicates there is a pattern emerging when it comes to the club moving for some of world football’s brightest talents.
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Juventus are reportedly considering re-signing Tottenham’s Radu Dragusin in the January transfer window – but he is not their top target.
The 22-year-old has largely played second fiddle to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven at the heart of Tottenham‘s defence since moving from Genoa in January 2024 for £21.5m (€25.5m, $27.8m).
Dragusin has made just 15 appearances for Spurs, with the Romania international limited to a paltry five Premier League starts so far.
The 6ft 3in defender, who has also been linked with Napoli, is less than 12 months into a six-and-a-half-year contract with the north London side and if he does go, he will not go on the cheap.
Now, Gazzetta dello Sport claims Juventus are looking at possibilities to sign their former player, who spent five years at the Serie A giants; without really making a dent on their first-team.
However, the report also states that Paris Saint-Germain centre-back and Slovakia international Milan Skriniar is their first choice pick if the 29-year-old is available.
Whether or not Dragusin heads back to Juve or makes a move in January is up in the air – although fresh comments tend to suggest he may stay put.
Dragusin exit played down
After Dragusin impressed in Tottenham’s 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Manchester City in midweek, his agent Florin Manea has again played down any talk of an exit from the club in early 2025.
He told Tutto Juve: “He’s coming off a great match against Manchester City, now he’s focused on the rest of the season. He wants to do well with Tottenham. I learn about it from the Italian newspapers, I honestly don’t know anything about it (transfer rumours).
“With Juventus as far as I’m concerned, there have been no contacts. As always, the final say in these cases will be up to the club he belongs to, but the boy is happy here at Tottenham.”
And Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has also hinted Dragusin is very much part of his plans going forward.
He told reporters on Friday: “Radu’s been with us 10 months now and I think he’s been great. We signed him because we saw some really strong attributes in him in terms of his defending capabilities, his mindset and again a really unique journey that he had to fight hard to get where he wants to. So, he had all those things I look for.
“He is still young and he is working hard every day on his game and all aspects of his game. Defenders you know they tend to get better with age with experience, the good ones, and with him, guys like Micky (van de Ven) and Destiny (Udogie), the reason we signed them at the age they did is we really believe in years to come they’ll get stronger and he is doing that.
“Every time he is out there I think I can see improvements. He is really embracing the way we play. It is very different to where he came from, playing so aggressively with our line and defending one-on-one but he’s embracing that and enjoying that. I thought he was great the other night. Not just in his football but in terms of his presence and demeanour, he took some leadership there.”
