Athletic: Tottenham weighing late bid for Swansea CB Joe Rodon

The Milan Srkiniar deal may be dead, but that doesn’t mean that Tottenham Hotspur aren’t still looking at bringing in another central defender before the end of the window. The Athletic’s transfer tracker is now saying that Spurs are considering a last-minute bid for 22-year old Swansea CB Joe Rodon.

I can’t say I’ve watched a whole lot of Swansea over the past year or so, but Rodon is highly thought of as an up and coming young defender. He’s 6’4”, which already fits the profile of the kind of big dude that Jose Mourinho likes in a CB. The Athletic calls him “composed on the ball and dominant in the air,” which sounds pretty good to me. Plus he’s young, and buying pre-peak players is usually a gamble worth taking, especially since Spurs have an aging and possibly post-peak Toby Alderweireld still in their squad, and Eric Dier isn’t getting any younger.

One interesting tidbit is that as a Welshman and product of Swansea’s academy, Rodon would be in a similar situation as Ben Davies in that he’d be considered “homegrown” for purposes of the Premier League but a foreign player for European tournament purposes. There’s been talk of changing that ridiculous contrast, but I’m not sure any progress has made since COVID-19.

A quick Google of Rodon says there’s a lot to like about him, but he wouldn’t come cheap for a young player, probably £18m or so according to The Athletic. Spurs are said to want to bring in a more experienced CB yet today, but if that doesn’t happen Spurs have until October 16 when the EFL window closes to bring in Rodon or someone similar as a backup plan.