Tottenham Hotspur pursue Ghanaian left back to replace Benoit Assou-Ekotto

Multiple sources, including Sky Sports are reporting that Tottenham Hotspur technical director Franco Baldini is actively pursuing the signature of Standard Liege fullback Daniel Opare. The 22 year-old defender spent 2 years as a member of Real Madrid's academy before moving to Standard in 2010. He missed a large portion of the 2012/13 season due to injury and international duty and only featured in 5 games.

Opare is mainly a right back, but has experience playing left back as well. In that regard he's similar to Kyle Naughton, except better. Opare is incredibly pacy and playing him opposite Kyle Walker would give Tottenham two of the fastest fullbacks in English football. Opare's main weakness is his defending, but at 22 that still has time to develop.

When asked about the prospect of moving to England and Tottenham in particular the Ghanian international had this to say:

"I am flattered by the interest of Spurs. They are a very good team in England I will jump at the chance to join them if they reach an agreement with my current club. I know there is a long way to go yet and also the level in England is a lot higher than in Belgium, but I think I can play there at a good level. If I get the chance to play for a team like Tottenham I will take it."

The addition of Opare would certainly be an exciting one, provided he is fully recovered from last season's broken foot and the resulting complications, then he could be an excellent addition. If the fee is good, Spurs could likely add Opare and shift on Naughton and still come out ahead.