Tottenham has apparently cooled their pursuit of Nicolo Zaniolo

Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with Roma midfielder Nico Zaniolo off and on since 2018. It’s been so long that he practically feels like a Tottenham player. But he won’t be one. Although there were apparently negotiations that took place this month to bring him from Roma, Spurs have apparently cooled their interest.

Nico seems ready to leave for something new and Roma appear to be quite willing to let him go, but Fabrizio Romano now reports that Zaniolo is deciding between a move to Bournemouth and AC Milan.

We’ve already discussed plenty about Zaniolo’s perceived strengths and weaknesses, his two surgically repaired knees, and how his status as a fast dribbly boi might (or might not) positively impact Tottenham’s current roster. But if what Romano is saying is accurate, Spurs’ signing of Arnaut Danjuma yesterday might have been the death knell — again — of any potential move.

And honestly, I think I’m okay with that. Danjuma and Zaniolo don’t play the same position and have different roles in the team, but if Spurs can get Pedro Porro across the line then suddenly they have legitimate and new threats on both flanks. If that’s what fixes, even temporarily, Antonio Conte’s preferred tactics, then perhaps that ameliorates somewhat the need for a passy creative central midfielder.

Not that I wouldn’t still want to have one around. I would! But at any rate, that’s still not Nico Zaniolo, and if you’re reading the tea leaves it appears that we’ll have to wait until this summer for the inevitable Zaniolo-to-Spurs rumors to emerge again from the wilds of Bat Country. I look forward to Zaniolo joining the ranks of mythical could-have-been-Spurs players along with Saido Berahino, Joe Cole, and Leandro Damiao.