With the arrival of Antonio Conte as the new manager, Tottenham Hotspur are planning to rebuild their squad. The latest star linked with the club is Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic.
This is according to the reports from the Italian outlet La Nazione. The report claims that Vlahovic could be available for a fee of £60m and Tottenham are one of the sides in contention. However, the club will face stiff competition from fellow Premier League sides Arsenal and Manchester City, who also wants to sign the 21-year-old.
New Tottenham manager Antonio Conte is likely to be provided funds this January to strengthen his squad. With Harry Kane expressing his desire to leave earlier in the summer, Vlahovic could be an ideal replacement for the Englishman.
IMPRESSING IN ITALY
Vlahovic had a slow start to his life in Serie A. But the fortunes changed midway through the 2020/21 season. The Serbian went from just 1 goal in his first ten Serie A appearances of the season to score an amazing 20 goals from the remaining 26 appearances. (all stats taken from Transfermarkt)
The 21-year-old followed the same form to the current campaign scoring 8 goals from his 12 matches in the league. His performance has helped Fiorentina to avoid relegation last season and is currently sitting at 7th place this season.
However, an area of concern for Fiorentina is that their contract with Vlahovic ends in 2023. The player is not ready to renew the deal, which has forced the club to look for suitable buyers. The contract situation means that Vlahovic could be on sale this January with a fee near to £60m being demanded by his club.
DOES TOTTENHAM NEED VLAHOVIC
Antonio Conte is famous for using a 3-5-2 system that uses two attackers upfront. The Italian had a lot of success using this system, with the partnership of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez in Inter Milan last season being the latest example.
But Heung-min Son and Harry Kane of Tottenham are ready-made pairs who can fit in this role. Son and Kane have excellent chemistry between them, as was evident from last season. So does Tottenham need to sign Vlahovic and should they be spending the money elsewhere?
Conte is known to use established players in their prime instead of young rising stars. However, the situation with Harry Kane is of concern. The 28-year-old wanted to leave Tottenham and was linked with a move to Manchester City. His form this season has also taken a hit with the forward having scored only 1 goal in the Premier League so far.
Tottenham does not have any backup strikers in the squad and signing Vlahovic could help in providing enough backup. In the event of Kane leaving the club, the Serbian could become the long term option to lead the Spurs front line.
But it is not going to be easy, with multiple sides monitoring the situation. Arsenal is keen to add Vlahovic this January and so are Manchester City, who seem to have shifted their focus away from Kane. Juventus are also interested and could make him their priority target. With such stiff competition and Conte’s preference for players in their prime, Vlahovic to Tottenham won’t be an easy signing.
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