Report: Chelsea to sign Spurs target Wilmar Barrios in January 2019

Remember when Tottenham Hotspur were very close to the signature of Boca Juniors and Colombia midfielder Wilmar Barrios? Looks like Spurs might have just gotten Willian’d again. An Argentine sports journalist is reporting that Chelsea have agreed to sign the defensive midfielder, but not until January of 2019.

It’s important to note that at this point it’s only one person reporting it, but Fregossi is a known Argentine journalist who closely covers Barrios’ current club Boca Juniors, so there’s probably at minimum some truth to it. Chelsea GAZUMPING Spurs for yet another transfer target would be annoying, but it might also obliquely confirm one of the other rumors swirling today — that Barcelona is trying to poach N’Golo Kante away from the Blues. Boca was also said to be playing hard-ball over Barrios’ transfer, as they are desperate to keep him for the Copa Libertadores this fall.

Spurs were thought to be at the head of the line to sign Barrios, who had a couple of decent games at the World Cup, but is probably best known for getting away with head-butting Jordan Henderson in the Round of 16 match against England. Barrios is a defensive midfielder who, like Victor Wanyama, is adept at breaking up play, but there are question marks as to his passing and dribbling ability in midfield. Still, there would be some slight irony in Chelsea signing the “Colombian Kante” to replace the ACTUAL Kante.

This is by no means confirmed, but there’s a hell of a lot of smoke being kicked up over this tweet. Watch this space, but it’s quite possible that Spurs just lost yet another potential midfield transfer target to another club.