Ornstein: Brighton rejected £12m Tottenham bid for Trossard

Boy, yesterday sure sucked, right? Let’s try and clean the palate with a good old fashioned January transfer rumor. David “The Ornacle” Ornstein is weighing in on Tottenham’s recent interest in Leandro Trossard, and is reporting in the Athletic (£) today that Spurs have even made an informal bid for the want-away Belgian winger. However, according to Ornstein, the verbal bid was £12m and Brighton rejected it.

I know psyches are fragile right now and everyone’s mad at Daniel Levy, but before fans go into full meltdown, this appears to be an opening salvo and actually pretty par for the course. Trossard is basically a non-entity at Brighton these days after a huge fall-out with manager Roberto De Zerbi. He reportedly left training and was not named to the Brighton squad that beat Liverpool this past weekend. It certainly sounds like there’s water, but it’s not going under the bridge.

So Trossard is very likely going somewhere this month, which gives clubs bidding for him some leverage. £12m is certainly a low-ball bid just to get a foot in the door, but it doesn’t mean that Spurs aren’t going to continue to pursue their interest. Ornstein writes that the club has not followed up since the informal bid but doesn’t mention when the bid came in or how long Spurs have gone quiet.

I think there’s probably a conversation to be had about Trossard, whether he’s a good fit for Tottenham’s squad under Conte, whether that matters anymore, and if his age profile and wages would be prohibitive. I haven’t really thought much on those questions. But I know he’s a talented player, can play in multiple positions (including wingback!), and whatever Spurs are doing right now isn’t working. So hey. I’m fully in throw-stuff-at-the-wall mode. We’ll see where this goes.