Don’t look now, but we’re just three weeks away from the next chapter of silly season! That’s right, it’s already December and the January transfer window opens up in a few short weeks.
Normally this window is full of conjecture and baseless rumors (much like every transfer window) with very little action. That being said, Spurs have been somewhat active in the last few winter windows. While we’re not expecting much in the way of traffic, David Ornstein of The Athletic (£) says Spurs are interested in highly-coveted RB Salzburg midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.
Among the most promising, coveted and talked-about young talents in world football, the 20-year-old attacking midfielder is tipped to leave Red Bull Salzburg after two-and-a-half years with the Austrian side.
Reports have asserted that Salzburg’s sister club RB Leipzig are leading the race, with Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur also claimed to be in the frame.
The numbers for Szoboszlai are approaching bonkers-level of production, especially for someone who is just 20 years old. Currently, the Hungarian International has eight goals and nine assists in 18 appearances and 1300 minutes. He’s incredibly progressive and productive as an attacking midfielder with an incredibly high ceiling. According to reports, he has a €25m (£22.6m) release clause that can be activated. There are unconfirmed rumors that there’s a 20 percent sell-on clause that clubs have to agree to, but that seems like an okay deal for one of the best young prospects at the #10.
Tempering our expectations here, he’s expected to go to RB Leipzig if he leaves Salzburg. While Spurs currently aren’t hurting for creative midfielders, bringing in a talent such as Szoboszlai would bolster the squad further, though it requires selling a foreign-born player as Spurs are currently maxed out. There are some possibilities, such as Paulo Gazzaniga. Canceling the loan of Gedson Fernandes makes sense as well, if Spurs are capable of doing so.
That being said, don’t get your hopes up on this. Yes, having Jose Mourinho at the helm certainly helps and Spurs being top of the Premier League is certainly attractive, but Szoboszlai will only move if he wants to and go somewhere he’ll get playing time. The first part of that equation is very possible, but Leipzig would almost certainly slot him in right away whereas Mourinho already has options.