Tottenham-linked forward Paco Alcacer to sign with Villarreal

Hey, did you hear? Tottenham Hotspur are still looking to sign a striker in what remains of the January transfer window. But whomever they sign, if they make a signing, it won’t be Paco Alcacer.

The Dortmund striker, ostensibly if not directly linked with Spurs in this last week of the window, will instead sign with Villarreal, either on a full transfer or a short-term loan with an obligation to purchase. The transfer fee is reportedly just €23m.

Gotta say, Alcacer was pretty high on my list of hypothetical strikers we could sign this January, even if it was never a very likely transfer. He’d fallen down the pecking order at Dortmund this season and was itching for a move away, and he’s the kind of player who could’ve really done a job for Spurs while Kane is out injured.

We don’t really know if Spurs were ever really interested in him — I’d have to think he was on a list somewhere, so it’s possible that either Jose Mourinho wasn’t interested in him, or Paco really never was interested in Spurs. Either way it feels like a missed opportunity.

The latest murmurs from the Spurs camp suggest that after the signing of Steven Bergwijn this morning, the addition of a striker would be considered more of a bonus than a priority. We’ll see about that — there are still 2+ days left in the window, Olivier Giroud is still needing a club, and there’s a lot that can still happen.