Tottenham striker target to reject Mauricio Pochettino for move to La Liga

Antonio Sanabria is set to choose Real Betis over Tottenham Hotspur. The twenty year-old A.S. Roma striker and Paraguayan international stirred interest from White Hart Lane as an able back-up to Harry Kane. His age, pedigree, and asking price seemed to fit the type of player that Daniel Levy and Mauricio Pochettino target, hence the speculation had some logic behind it.

I don't speak Spanish and unlike Baxter, neither does my trusted canine Holly, thus Google translate helped me out.

"El futbolista paraguayo ha decidido finalmente descartar la propuesta del Tottenham y se comprometerá con el Betis en los próximos días. Su deseo de seguir en España ha sido clave para dar marcha atrás en una operación con los 'spurs' que parecía encarrilada.

Sanabria se cansó de esperar al Barça y se sentó a negociar con el conjunto británico, que estaba muy interesado en él. De hecho, representantes del club londinense tenían previsto viajar a Barcelona la semana pasada, algo que no sucedió finalmente tras el cambio de opinión del jugador"

Essentially this states that Sanabria has turned down Spurs' advances and is now looking to Real Betis for a move. It also notes that Sanabria's preferred destination was Barçelona, but that the Catalan club were stalling on an offer.

If this article's contents are accurate, then there are two noteworthy assumptions that we can make. The first is that Sanabria simply doesn't want to leave Spain, where he spent the year on loan at Sporting Gijón last season. Language seems to be an issue with him and the promise of staying in La Liga, where he doesn't have to learn a new language, is attractive. This would justify his want to leave Roma and to avoid Tottenham; even if Pochettino and his staff are Spanish speakers. It also points to the fact that Barçelona is really where he wants to be. He was part of the La Masia setup since he was thirteen and its where he eventually wants to return. Not just in this article too, but in others speaking about his future, they all harp to the notion that Sanabria was waiting for Barçelona to make a bid.

The second assumption we can make is that Spurs were really outsiders throughout this process. I wouldn't go so far as to say that these rumors were agent fodder and totally artificial, but Tottenham maybe weren't as close to signing Sanabria as some would have thought. The player seems to have little interest in moving to London. That said, Spurs could have also used this rumor to their benefit in their dealings with AZ Alkmaar and Vincent Janssen.

Of course all of this could change — its silly season of course — but for now, with the information that we have, Sanabria to Tottenham looks quite unlikely.