Home

Spurs go back for Zaza

Juventus continued their spending spree with the £18.33-million (€25m) purchase of 24-year-old Brazilian left-back Alex Sandro recently. That took their spending to £36.67-million (€50m) this window and they need to recoup some of that money.

Their spending mat not have stopped there though as they are attempting to sign 21-tear-old winger Julian Draxler from German side Schalke. That would again increase the pressure on Juventus to offload players to generate funds. Fernando Llorente has returned to Spain with Sevilla, as I expected he would but the Italians still have a number of strikers on their books.

Earlier this window Tottenham made inquiries for 24-year-old (25 next June) Simone Zaza, then of Sassuolo, but a deal with Juventus had already been arranged and the player knew he was going there, he even said as much in an interview with the Italian press when asked about a possible move. He joined them for £13.20-million (€18m) on 7 July.

The Italian press are speculating which players may be sold and have decided it must be Zaza, 19-year-old French starlet Kingsley Coman or 28-year-old Moroccan centre-back Mehdi Benatia. The latter is the one they feel most likely given the potential of Coman, although it is suggested a Bundesliga club are chasing him.

West Ham have been trying to negotiate a loan move for Zaza but Juventus have pulled the plug on that is the last couple of days, which may see them turn back to Emmanuel Adebayor, there are reports he is to undergo a medical with them.

Tottenham have also recently made inquiries about Zaza's availability. Whilst it may seem far-fetched Juventus considering a sale they did loan out over 60 players last season. In Italy it is quite common to buy a player and immediately send them on loan while they develop, it's a ploy Chelsea use as well.

There have been recent stories of Juventus interest in Lamela, presumably if Draxler is unavailable so there is some bargaining power there on both sides. Lamela to Juventus and Zaza to Tottenham would alleviate any perceived striker crisis at Spurs. While we generally don't take players on loan for a season, generally preferring purchases, it may however be an option giving us further time to seek out the right man to buy long term.