Espanyol ready to sell Pochettino favorite Hector Moreno

Hector Moreno is officially on the market. The Mexican defender, who had a wonderful World Cup this summer before breaking his leg in Mexico's Round of 16 loss to the Netherlands, is reportedly being rehabilitated by his club Espanyol for a possible January sale, says Spanish website SPORT.

Moreno has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur before, mostly since Mauricio Pochettino coached him while manager at Espanyol. The article claims that the Spanish club would be looking for about £5.5m for Moreno's services, a price that would be well within Spurs' range for a January signing. The article also claims that Espanyol is rehabilitating Moreno, who is set to play in the club's Copa del Rey match against Alavés this afternoon, to make him more attractive to potential buyers.

Naturally, there's a fair bit of risk involved with purchasing a player who is fresh off of a major injury like a broken leg. SPORT claims Moreno is 45 minute match fit, which isn't great. But Moreno played wonderfully in Brazil this summer before his injury, and he's a known commodity for Pochettino. £5m isn't a lot of money to spend on a World Cup caliber defender, especially if Spurs move on Vlad Chiriches. It's medium risk, with high reward.

SPORT claims Espanyol would accept bids from Italy, England, Germany, or Spain. While there are no indications that Spurs are actually looking at him, this is the kind of no-source rumor that nevertheless passes the smell test. It's probably #batcountry, but I kind of hope it isn't.