Now we have a pretty good idea of ​​the type of player Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to target in January. transfer window – Several outlets suggest that Spurs football director Fabio Paratici will focus most of his attention on a left CB, right winger and striker to spell Harry Kane.

That’s not to say that we aren’t yet going to see some pretty exciting rumors for players outside of these profiles as we start the new year. Take this one from the Italian rumor mill – according to the Turin-based daily La Stampa (paywalled, via Sport Witness), Tottenham is now in “pole position” to land Juventus Swedish attacking and international midfielder Dujan Kulusevski in January.

At just 21, Kulusevski exploded onto the Serie A scene two seasons ago while on loan to Parma from Atalanta, where he scored 10 goals and 8 assists in 2,900 league minutes, playing primarily as a right winger or inside attacker, earning the Serie A Young Player of the Year award. It was interesting, as he had mainly played as a central midfielder at Atalanta. He did well enough that last season he was quickly recovered by Juventus, where he scored four goals and three assists in 1900 Serie A minutes for the old lady.

But Kulusevski has struggled much more this season under Massimiliano Allegri, having made just four starts and playing just over 650 minutes. To hear La Stampa say it, Juventus need the money to fund their own moves in January – specifically mentioning Sassuolo’s Gianluca Scamacca – and are therefore likely to ‘sacrifice’ Kulusevski in January, with Tottenham extremely interested. They suggest a bid of € 35million (£ 29.5million) would likely be enough to land him, and say Spurs are a strong possibility for his signing, but with Arsenal also interested.

The connection to Paratici is obvious – Fabio played a part in his arrival at Juventus and therefore probably knows Kulusevski and what he can add to a football club. And quite honestly, at this price, Spurs should prioritize him FiorentinaIt’s Dusan Vlahovic. Finding a full-fledged striker is tough when you have Harry Kane, and Spurs have two young strikers down the pipe in Troy Parrott and Dane Scarlett who could eventually inherit the role. At 21, Kulusevski is already a strong and versatile creative attacking midfielder, something that, frankly, Spurs could use right now. He’s great at advancing the ball and creating opportunities, and is super fast. It’s an exciting rumor.

One wonders where Kulusevsky’s long-term position stands – he himself said that he sees himself more as a trequartista, operating in the half-space just behind the striker, and he played a bigger role as an 8 at Atalanta. That versatility probably works in his favor – it’s pretty easy to see how he could fit into Antonio Conte’s tactics, and he would be an upgrade to someone like Steven Bergwijn on the right side of the attack group. , or (sob) someone like Dele … he would probably challenge Lucas Moura too. At 21, his cap is insanely high, and for € 35m it’s a steal – consider Fiorentina are likely to order over € 70m for Vlahovic in the short term, or until that time. that he terminates his contract.

We’ve all been around long enough that we don’t immediately take the transfer rumors at face value, especially from the Italian media. Thanks to Conte and Paratici, we’re going to see a ton of these kinds of stories, and that means it’s going to be hard to sort the good from the bad. Honestly, I don’t know if this rumor is wheat or straw, but it’s pretty darn exciting. I say, let’s do it and let’s be legends.