Thomas Frank has suffered an early blow at Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window.
The Danish head coach has learned that one of Tottenham Hotspur’s top transfer targets won’t be joining his squad this summer.
Frank has already seen one player sign this month, with Mathys Tel joining Tottenham permanently for £30 million from Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, TBR Football can reveal that Tottenham are close to signing Kota Takai from J1 League club Kawasaki Frontale.
However, one of their top midfield transfer targets is set to move elsewhere, but there remains good news, as Spurs could yet profit from his decision.
Tottenham will get fee from Johnny Cardoso deal
Johnny Cardoso will not be joining Tottenham this summer from Real Betis, as per Dean Jones, despite the Lilywhites having the option to sign him.
Tottenham agreed a £21m option for Cardoso when they sold Giovani Lo Celso to Real Betis during the 2024 summer transfer window.
However, Cardoso wants to join Atletico Madrid instead, but Spurs are due to receive some of the fee that the Spanish club will pay to sign the United States international.
Jones told Ranks FC: “Spurs are not signing Johnny Cardoso. If he goes somewhere else, they still get a fee, so they are taking a fee instead.”
Cardoso has been called ‘amazing’ by the Spanish media, with the 23-year-old producing many impressive performances for the Andalusia club.
The midfielder started in the Europa Conference League final, however, he had a tough evening as Betis were thrashed 4-1 by Chelsea.
Tottenham want to sign a central defender, defensive midfielder, winger and striker
Tottenham will now look elsewhere and are targeting a central defender, a defensive midfielder, another winger and a striker.
Yves Bissouma could leave Tottenham, therefore, they will need to sort out a replacement, and unfortunately, that won’t be Cardoso.
In attack, Spurs want to sign another winger even after getting Tel, with Eberechi Eze, Antoine Semenyo and Bryan Mbeumo among their top targets.
Meanwhile, a striker who can rotate with Dominic Solanke and take some of the burden off the 27-year-old.
Speaking about where Spurs could turn next, Jones added: “They want a centre-back, a defensive midfielder, one more wide attacker and a player to rotate with Solanke.”