According to the ESPN (h/t Daily Mail), Tottenham have ‘expressed an interest’ in Cengiz Under and could make a secondary approach for the £45m forward before January. Spurs reportedly lodged a £32m bid for the 21-year-old’s signature earlier this month but AS Roma rebuffed their offer. It’s hard to see that being true, however, given Mauricio Pochettino revealed to the Evening Standard that spending will be low in January due to the new stadium build.
Vital Spurs recently played down talk of Tottenham signing Under but it’s important to reiterate as the UK media aren’t getting the message. Pochettino is highly unlikely to spend £45m on a forward that he doesn’t need. Spurs are blessed with attacking options out wide – Georges-Kévin N’Koudou, Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura, Heung-min Son, Christian Eriksen – so they won’t add to the squad unless multiple existing players leave.
Bayern Munich, however, do have a real need for a player like Under. The Turkish international has scored and created 21 goals in 52 games for Roma and could be a good replacement for one of Franck Ribery or Arjen Robben. Would Under turn down the chance to join Bayern for Tottenham, anyway?
Crippy Cooke’s previous article
Dutchman could leave Tottenham, manager treatment to blame – opinion