Tottenham Hotspur targets another Italian midfielder, as he is not happy at Juventus since his arrival. The midfielder has featured in Massimiliano Allegri’s midfield trio due to Pogba’s injury. But Manuel Locatelli’s performance has not improved at Juventus despite featuring heavily.
The Italian giant is keen to find solutions to revamp its midfield options in the January window. McKennie is another player who does not fit into Allegri’s plans.
Arsenal showed interest to bring in the midfielder. But Tottenham Hotspur has decided to enter the race to sign dispensable Locatelli according to the reports from CalcioMercatoWeb.
The former AC Milan and Sassuolo man is a highly-rated defensive midfielder who helps to build to attack for his team from deep. He will be a good fit for Antonio Conte‘s two-man midfield system.
Interest from Tottenham Hotspur
The Italian international has made 54 appearances for the Old Lady so far. During this time, he has registered three goals and five assists. Clearly, he is more of a deep-lying playmaker.
He can easily team up with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg or Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield. Bentancur did play beside him at Juventus before his move to the North London side in the winter of 2022.
In his limited game time, Yves Bissouma has shown solid performance. But he lacks creative qualities and is not yet familiar with Conte’s methods.
Locatelli is just 24 years old and his prime years are yet to come. His move to Tottenham Hotspur will be very useful for the Italian himself. He is an upgrade to other additional midfield options Conte has. More options will help the Spurs to retain their bright form.
But Arsenal and Tottenham are not the only clubs to get his signature. As he is the most promising number six in Italy, major Serie A clubs like Napoli and Inter will try their luck as well. Reports suggest that Old Lady will demand around £35 million to sell their player.
In the ideal world, the price is not humongous, but Locatelli is keen to continue his career at Juventus. But if a suitable offer comes in, the club will be tempted to sell him in the future.
But Locatelli’s pursuer Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has not opened any talk to extend his contract at North London. His contract will expire in the summer of 2023. But the famous journalist David Ornstein has revealed that the Spurs have the option to extend Conte’s contract one more year. This sums up he can stay until 2024.
