Espanyol boss Manolo Gonzalez insists that he is unconcerned about Tottenham Hotspur’s growing interest in striker Roberto Fernandez, who TEAMtalk have revealed is very much on the club’s radar for a stunning January swoop.
The 24-year-old is regarded as one of the rising stars of Spanish football, having notched six goals in seven LaLiga games for Espanyol so far this season.
Indeed, his sensational form saw Fernandez called up to Luis de la Fuente’s Spain squad during the international break, where he started and played 90 minutes in the 3-1 win over Czechia.
Interest is growing in the impressive frontman as a result, and we exclusively revealed on October 7 that Tottenham have stepped up their work on Fernandez, with the club’s recruitment team told to find a new striker for Roberto De Zerbi to fix their goalscoring issues.
While clubs in Germany are also reported to be interested in the Espanyol star, it’s Spurs who have been watching Fernández’s development closely, as they look to make a potential move in the new year.
TEAMtalk can reveal that the impressive attacker first came to Tottenham’s attention last season, despite only notching a modest seven goals for the Barcelona-based outfit.
But his form this season has seen them accelerate that interest, forcing a response from Espanyol manager Manolo Gonzalez as a result.
It’s claimed that Fernandez’s future remains very much in the hands of Espanyol sporting director Monchi, who would be central to all transfer talks in the future.
The former Aston Villa transfer guru arrived at the club in the summer as part of a new plan to improve Espanyol’s LaLiga standing under Burnley owner Alan Pace. Losing Fernandez would represent a major blow to that particular plan.
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Espanyol fears eventual Fernandez exit amid Tottenham interest
However, Gonzalez insists that, for now, the growing reports about the likes of Tottenham moving for his top striker are not concerning him too much.
“I don’t know what might happen or what other clubs might be thinking,” he told Sport.
“I think he knows that playing for Espanyol brings him closer to the national team. He gets more consistent playing time here.
“But, well, if someone comes along and pays the release clause and he wants to leave, then we’ll have to look for solutions in the transfer market. But I believe that, as of today, he and the people around him are satisfied—they’re happy here. And Roberto is young.
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“If he keeps scoring goals, he’ll always have opportunities in the transfer market. But it’s not something that keeps me up at night.
“Obviously, it’s something I’m attending to and concerned about. But I’m not sitting here thinking, ‘Oh, they’re going to come, pay the €30m, and take him away.’ I want to focus on Roberto continuing to score goals.”