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Tottenham Hotspur fans were hoping for an official announcement on Friday that PSG winger Lucas Moura was joining Spurs. That didn’t happen, though the line out of the club is that Spurs are hopeful that they can finalize the deal within 48 hours.
That’s according to the Telegraph, which states that the clubs are still hammering out a deal on the transfer fee. Previous reports suggested that the devil is in the details, but that Lucas the final deal would be for around £22m. Lucas has apparently already worked out personal terms with Tottenham, and wants to move to Spurs.
However, there are doubts being raised online that suggest that the deal is more complicated than before, and that Lucas could be part of a series of dominos that are being set up and that involve multiple clubs. Here’s a Sky reporter on Twitter to break down that argument:
Dzeko to Chelsea stalled. Chelsea looking at signing Giroud on loan. Giroud can only leave Arsenal if they sign Aubameyang. If Aubameyang leaves Dortmund they want Lucas Moura from PSG. Moura prefers move to Spurs
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) January 26, 2018
I don’t know if I buy that, to be honest. Considering how far along these negotiations are already and that the player seems to want to come to Tottenham, this seems more conspiracy theoryish than anything else, especially the bit about Dortmund targeting Lucas as an Aubameyang replacement. However, we also all remember how Chelsea poached Willian literally during his medical at White Hart Lane, so I guess anything can happen.
Not a whole lot of transfer business gets done on Sundays, though the Telegraph state that negotiations will continue today. Still, it could be Monday before we get another update on Lucas. He was held out of PSG’s match against Montpellier, presumably due to the state of negotiations.
Mauricio Pochettino refused to talk about the negotiations in the post-FA Cup match press conference, calling them “rumors.”
I’m of the opinion that £22m for Lucas in this market is a pretty phenomenal deal, and since he never played for PSG in the Champions League he’d be eligible to help out right away. (He’d also be able to play in the FA Cup replay vs. Newport County.) Hopefully this gets squared away sooner rather than later.