Tottenham Hotspur join group of teams vying for Soumaré

The January transfer window is rapidly approaching, and while Tottenham Hotspur still have a couple of matches to play prior to the market opening for business, there will always be reports that the club have eyes for specific players.

Today, a report has dropped from Le10 Sport in France regarding LOSC Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumaré. The 20-year-old is available for the right price:

À tout juste 20 ans, Boubakary Soumaré dispute déjà sa 3ème saison avec le LOSC. Disposant du statut d’international espoir, le milieu de terrain lillois aurait la cote sur le marché des transferts. Comme le 10 Sport vous le révélait en exclusivité le 25 novembre dernier, la direction du LOSC a reçu deux offres de transfert pour Soumaré en provenance de Premier League et d’Italie. On vous dévoilait en outre qu’un départ du LOSC en janvier était possible du point de vue du joueur et du club, à condition qu’il soit prêté dans la foulée jusqu’à la fin de la saison. Le Napoli serait également sur le coup. Mais pas seulement…

This report cites the November 25 report stating that Tottenham had made contact with Lille, which HITC has helped out with some translation:

And, some three weeks after Jeunes Footeaux claimed that Spurs were keen, Campos has now confirmed Mourinho’s interest in France’s latest superstar-in-waiting.

“Soumaré? It is true that there are many interested (clubs). From Spain, from Italy… the interest of José Mourinho? I know he likes him very much, yes,” said Campos, who himself was linked with a move to Tottenham recently.

“There are five, six clubs that are interested in him.”

Those quotes are from Lille Sporting Director Luis Campos, whom Tottenham were linked with acquiring for the same role right after José Mourinho joined Spurs.

The long and the short of this is that Lille are wanting a whopping £43m this January for the French-Senegalese midfielder, but that’s a desperation move for a club who might lose a player for nothing.

Soumaré is showing he’s one of the brightest young talents in football. He’s made 22 appearances across all competitions and logged 1,500 minutes. He’s solid at progressing the ball through the midfield but doesn’t quite tackle or make interceptions like we’d really want just yet.

The price tag is rough at £43m, but that can always be talked down. Soumaré just signed a new deal that keeps him at Lille through 2022. That is probably a simple bumper deal so Lille didn’t lose him on a free transfer come summertime, as we previously thought was the case.

Le10 Sport’s reporting seems pretty stout. We have quotes from a sporting director followed by some decent links via other outlets. We’ll have to see just how much interest there actually is in him come January, but this is a player we can add to the list of plausible moves.

Edit: This story has been edited with updated information in regard to Soumaré’s contract status. Previously, we had stated he was out of contract in Summer 2020. He has been signed through 2022, as of 1 November 2019.