After reaching an early agreement with Leicester for Oliver Skipp, Tottenham may anticipate increasing their transfer budget by an additional £20 million in the coming day. Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou and associates are thinking about taking advantage of Conor Gallagher’s contract, which he had an on-and-off move to Atletico Madrid.
In what Tottenham hopes will be another successful season under Postecoglou, the north London team opens the season on Monday night when they play Leicester at the King Power Stadium. Spurs supporters will be hoping for a similarly bright start this season after the team faded away due to injuries and suspensions after finishing the previous season with an amazing eight victories from ten games.
An interesting aside from Monday night’s matchup is the upcoming transfer of homegrown Spurs midfielder Skipp between clubs. The 23-year-old has been a member of Tottenham’s roster since he was just eight years old in 2008, and since making his debut during the 2018–19 campaign, he has made 106 appearances for the team.
But according to Postecoglou, he is now surplus to requirements, and rumours about Skipp leaving have been rampant all summer.
In-depth ➡️ Spurs XI will take Postecoglou to promised land and break the 16-year trophy drought
The 23-year-old, who was first connected to Leeds, later stated on TEAMtalk that he did not want to leave the Premier League, shutting out a move to West Yorkshire.
Leicester City, one of the teams that defeated them for promotion the previous season, is now close to completing the signing. The agreement may be finalised later today, but it’s probably not going to be official until after Monday’s match between the two teams is over.
Transfers from Tottenham: Move by the striker is approved, and Fabrizio Romano said the second deal will close today.
Tottenham transfers: Fabrizio Romano reveals that a second deal will be concluded today, and a striker move is AGREED.
According to TEAMtalk, Skipp is expected to sign a four-year contract at King Power Stadium after passing a medical exam.
Postecoglou is eager to take advantage of the Conor Gallagher trade for Tottenham.
The midfield player will cost Spurs an initial £20 million, with add-ons potentially pushing the price to £23 million.
Spurs’ central midfield position is quite thin now that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has already been sacrificed, with summer acquisition Archie Grey the only player capable of covering first-choice pair Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma.
That might, however, alter in the last days of the window as Postecoglou attempts to expand the alternatives available in the park’s centre.
Manuel Locatelli, a midfielder for Juventus, has been linked lately. There are rumours that he may be able to leave the Serie A powerhouse for a price tag of about €25 million (£21.3 million).
However, there are also increasing hints that Tottenham is closely monitoring Gallagher’s status and his on-again, off-again transfer to Atletico Madrid.
The England midfielder, who led the Blues to numerous titles in the previous year, has been told by new boss Enzo Maresca that he will only be a squad player and has thus been made available for transfer this summer.
The following content is continued.
Ad
The 24-year-old thus spent the initial part of last week in Madrid when negotiations to sell him to Atletico Madrid were initiated.
Though the two clubs indicated a willingness to proceed, they were unable to come to a complete understanding over the terms of a £33.7 million transfer.
‘Would love’ to sign Chelsea man, says Postecoglou
Although Chelsea sent Gallagher back to Cobham last week when a contract could not be reached, Atletico still has hope that the Gallagher problem may be resolved.
Football Insider now reports that Postecoglou is keeping a close eye on the matter and has informed club executives that he “would love” to sabotage the agreement and bring Gallagher to north London.
Since Postecoglou took over at Tottenham, Gallagher has been one of his top targets, and in January, the Australian almost made a bid to sign him.