Tottenham look more prepared than ever to challenge for the title after winning their last five Premier League games on the bounce.
All of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans seemed to come together over the festive period, culminating in a glory night at White Hart Lane for the 2-0 triumph over Chelsea.
Yet, their collapse towards the end of last season has taught the Lilywhites they can’t afford to be complacent, hence why they are still identifying areas of improvement in their squad.
According to the London Evening Standard, Federico Bernardeschi is one of their chief targets, having attracted Pochettino’s attention when he scored from 30 yards against Spurs in the Europa League last term.
The fact that their manager pays attention to anything which goes on in Europe’s secondary competition might come as news to some Tottenham fans, but in this case, it could be a huge benefit.
Bernardeschi is rated by the Serie A club at around £40million, which does seem like a big fee for a 22-year-old. Given that Spurs are competing with the likes of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona, though, they may make an exception to their normal policy of not paying over the odds for youngsters.
The Italy international is a wide attacker, making him a perfect fit for Spurs, who are on the hunt for more competition in that area. What’s particularly appealing about this option is that he can play in the centre of a three-man attack behind the striker, or on either flank.
Fiorentina are still hoping to offer him a new contract, one which would include a buyout clause of £70million to finally price him out of reach, but he’s unlikely to leave in the current transfer window regardless. This season, he’s already hit an average of a goal every two games, so he’s vital to their campaign and is still allowing his representatives to talk to club officials.
Bernardeschi has been slowly but surely making a name for himself in Italy, progressing up the national ranks and into the senior time. A graduate of Fiorentina’s academy, he spent a season on loan at Crotone, where he scored 12 goals.
If speculation so far is to be believed, then Spurs may well pursue alternatives who will operate as back-ups to Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela. Gylfi Sigurdsson is one name being mentioned – including by Pochettino who admitted he would have been the “perfect” player – but he has already left White Hart Lane once for regular football. Bernardechi would likely take time to adapt to the physicality of English football, but when Spurs are in possession, he’d perhaps be more focused on the ball than the likes of Eriksen, and he’s more of a goalscorer too.
It remains to be seen whether anything comes of this, but it could well depend on whether Spurs can convince him to turn down others like Bayern or PSG in order to join their project.
Check out Football Advisor for profitable betting predictions
