Spurs want Real Madrid star on season-long loan

The rumor mill keeps on grinding today, with a report in the Daily Mirror that Tottenham are interested in bringing Real Madrid star attacking midfielder Isco to White Hart Lane... on a season long loan with an option to buy.

Isco’s wonderful, and he would be an instant hit at Tottenham. He’s another player that’s used to being in the hole, but can play anywhere across the forward attacking band. He’s never been an especially prolific goal scorer while at Madrid (though he scored frequently at Malaga), but he’s a silky passer and an assist machine — he netted 5 goals and 12 assists in 2500 minutes in all competitions last season for Madrid, and his ability is one reason he ended up at Madrid in the first place. He’d provide instant competition for Christian Eriksen as a creative midfielder and would be a huge improvement over Nacer Chadli.

Isco’s 24 years old and reportedly only on £60k/week, which puts him squarely in Tottenham’s price range. The rumors are that Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is under a great deal of pressure to trim Madrid’s squad, and is ready to move either Isco or James Rodriguez. Zizou and Florentino Perez apparently prefer James, making him less likely to depart the Bernebau.

I don’t know if Spurs would want or afford a transfer for him – Transfermarkt unreliably rates him at £29m, but he’s probably worth more – but a loan would be an awful lot of fun.

However, I just don’t see this happening. The rumor of Madrid needing to trim their squad comes from MARCA and has been filtered through the Italian and English media. The Mirror seems to be the one linking Tottenham with Isco, which is nice, but feels a little convenient. It wouldn’t be the first (or last) time that Spurs would be used as a stalking horse for a player to get a better deal elsewhere, or that Spurs are connected to a team simply because they are open to a particular kind of player and this player is available.

Then there were the allegations earlier this summer that Isco was involved in the sexual assault of a woman along with Spain teammates David De Gea and Iker Muniain. It made a big splash in the papers, but to my knowledge it never progressed beyond rumors and allegations, and Isco was never charged with a crime. Innocent until proven guilty, of course, but it makes me a little nervous.

I would like nothing more than for this to happen. Isco is the kind of player that you would expect would land at a club like Arsenal or Chelsea, and it would be a fantastic “get” for Spurs. But I have my doubts that he’d fall all the way to Spurs when he’s more likely to get a good loan or sale elsewhere. Until more solid evidence (and a better source) arises, I’d advise Spurs fans to be extremely skeptical of this rumor.