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Takehiro Tomiyasu is looking more and more like a player who is likely to be joining Tottenham Hotspur this summer. However, due to the crazy summer of football, it might not be for a while yet.
The Telegraph is reporting that Spurs are close to a deal that would bring the Japan international defender to White Hart Lane, but he’s set to compete in the Olympic Games this summer in his own country. That means any final negotiations, as well as the signing, would likely take place in Japan and not in London.
The Olympics kick off in Tokyo on July 23. Assuming Tomiyasu signs in the next week or so, if Japan ends up in medal contention it’s possible that he could be involved with Japan up through August 7 (the date of the Gold Medal match), the same day as the Community Shield. The Premier League kicks off on August 14, with Spurs playing Manchester City. Even in a best case scenario it seems dicey that we’d see Takehiro in a meaningful match until after the season has already started, and it also doesn’t seem unreasonable that he may also want a little down time before reporting to his club. And we’re also not considering any COVID-related isolation time.
That’s one of the consequences of both a crazy summer of football and the new club season starting in mid-August. There’s also the possibility that things drag out, as the transfer window doesn’t close until the end of August.
The Telegraph writes that Spurs are still about £5m apart from Bologna’s asking price for Tomiyasu, but that personal terms are agreed. That’s not at all an insurmountable hurdle, so unless something really weird happens things are looking pretty good that Spurs will have a new defender... at some point.