According to the Daily Express, Tottenham are interested in Pervis Estupiñán and may have to battle Chelsea and Barcelona to procure his signature. AS say Manchester United and Atletico Madrid are keen on the left-back too, but his ongoing loan in Spain and work permit difficulties may prove a stumbling block in Spurs completing a deal.
How good is Estupiñán?
Very good. The 22-year-old has a lot of European clubs interested and is coming off the back of an impressive season. Estupiñán joined Watford from Udinese in 2017 but hasn’t made a single appearance for the Hornets. He’s instead been loaned out to UD Almeria (July 17, 2017 – June 30, 2018), RCD Mallorca (August 10, 2018 – June 30, 2019) and Osasuna (July 3, 2019 – June 30, 2021), making a total of 91 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals with 11 assists.
Last season, the Ecuadorian international featured 36 times for Osasuna in La Liga, scoring one goal, making five assists, creating 44 chances, completing 74.6% of his 1279 passes, winning 44/89 aerial duels, making 59/114 successful dribbles, having 19 shots, blocking 44 crosses/passes/shots, whipping in 162 crosses with 25% accuracy, making 47 clearances, winning 40 free-kicks and averaging a tackle (84) or interception (58) every 21 minutes, as per WhoScored.
His Transfermarkt valuation is £13.5m and CIES Football Observatory value him at €20m-€30m, but La Razon say Estupiñán will only cost €10m (£9m). It’s easy to see why clubs are keen, but there are many obstacles in a deal getting over the line.
Why could he be difficult to sign this summer?
The 22-year-old’s loan deal at Osasuna has one more year to run, so it remains to be seen whether there’s a break clause inserted that would allow him to join another side permanently this summer.
Tottenham may have to wait 12 months before Estupiñán turns out for them, but Osasuna buying option of €10m could kill their chances dead anyway. It also doesn’t appear that he has a work permit to play outside of Ecuador and Spain, so he’d be ineligible to play for Spurs too.
Summary
With Danny Rose having an uncertain future in North London, Estupiñán could be a good replacement. It’s not the best move trying to sign another left-back before clarifying Rose’s future, however, as he wants to stay at Tottenham.
We aren’t blessed with lucrative transfer funds this summer and need a right-back, centre-back, centre-midfielder, winger and striker, so it may be wise to focus on those positions first.
In other news, Tottenham have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of a £40m centre-back