Tottenham are willing to pay £60 million for one of manager Ange Postecoglou's reported top transfer targets, as chairman Daniel Levy and co seemingly prepare to back their head coach once again.
Postecoglou era breeds positivity at Spurs
Postecoglou's debut season in charge of Spurs has been one of real positivity and promise. The Australian's entertaining brand of high-pressing, attack-minded football is both easy on the eye and effective on the pitch, with the north Londoners well in contention to seal Champions League qualification.
Spurs make contract offer to sign star who nearly joined Pochettino in 2018
He publicly admitted to considering a Tottenham move.
ByEmilio Galantini
Despite coping without star players like Micky van de Ven and James Maddison for large portions of the mid-season, with both men ruled out for months at one stage, Postecoglou still navigated through what was a pretty tough period.
The Spurs boss was even forced to play a makeshift central defensive pairing of Emerson Royal and Ben Davies at one stage, as Postecoglou also missed Maddison's real creativity.
Timo Werner
Arrival
Radu Dragusin
Arrival
Lucas Bergvall
Arrival
Djed Spence
Exit (loan)
Alejo Veliz
Exit (loan)
Ashley Phillips
Exit (loan)
Japhet Tanganga
Exit (loan)
Sergio Reguilon
Exit (loan)
Eric Dier
Exit (loan)
Ivan Perisic
Exit (loan)
Even though the north Londoners battled their way through a plethora of injury and suspension problems, which is testament to the job Postecoglou has done, you could argue that Spurs could still do with upgrades in certain areas. It is believed that Tottenham are already compiling a shortlist of summer targets, and the club are keen to acquire a new forward among other potential new additions.
Barcelona star Raphinha has been regularly linked with a move to north London, and reliable Spurs insider Paul O'Keefe backed their interest in signing the Brazilian recently.
Tottenham prepared to pay £60 million for Raphinha
Journalist Ivan San Antonio, writing an article for Spanish news outlet Sport, has more detail on this.
He claims Tottenham are willing to pay around £60 million for Raphinha this summer, and it is believed he could be a name to watch out for in the market as another unnamed club has made an "interesting proposal" as well.
The 27-year-old has bagged three goals and five assists over 16 La Liga outings for Barca this season, with half of those cameos being full starts. Former Sky pundit Graeme Souness, commenting on Raphinha during his time at Leeds, suggested he is a very exciting player to have in your side.
“I like him a lot,” said Souness in 2021.
"Our football, as we know, is different to everyone else’s. And he’s handled it easily. Anyone who dribbles gets you on the edge of your seat. He can do that, and he can deliver, AND he can score goals. I think this boy’s extremely talented. He’s quick and he understands the game."
"It’s alright having people who can dribble, and get you on the edge of your seat, but he delivers in every sense.“