TBR Football can reveal that Tottenham Hotspur have initiated new contacts to sign Nico Paz after they missed out on Eberechi Eze.
The Argentine has been on Spurs’ radar for several months, with TBR revealing in February that Tottenham scouts were impressed by Paz.
Eze chose Arsenal over Spurs even though Thomas Frank’s side tried very hard to get him. Since that rejection, Tottenham have been exploring other options.
One of them is Paz of Como.
Nico Paz was one of Como’s standout players in the Serie A last season.
The Argentina international, hailed as a ‘very skilful’ player by The Scouting App, impressed everyone under Cesc Fabregas in Italy last term, and his performances have caught the eye of other big clubs.
Tottenham are one of them, and after their initial enquiry proved to be unsuccessful earlier this month, they tried again.
TBR Football’s chief correspondent, Graeme Bailey, can reveal that Spurs initiated fresh contacts with Paz’s representatives and Real Madrid in the last 24 hours.
However, as TBR confirmed over a week ago, Real Madrid, who own 50 per cent of Paz’s rights, have not changed their stance, and the only move they would be open to, if any, is a straight loan.
Bailey told TBR: “The problem for any club wanting Paz is that Real currently have a buy-back clause of around €10 million (£8.6m). If they allowed him to leave Como, they would insist on a similar arrangement with that new club.
“So, in theory, if he performed well at Spurs, they would lose him for virtually nothing at the end of the deal.
“As it stands, Spurs would not do that.”
Lionel Messi has raved about Tottenham target Nico Paz
Paz was barely a month old when Lionel Messi made his debut for Barcelona in October 2004.
Now 20, he can proudly say that he has shared the pitch with his legendary compatriot on two occasions, the first of which came when Argentina smashed Bolivia 6-0.
Paz even assisted Messi in that game.
After the win, Messi hailed Paz by saying: “Nico Paz has an incredible mindset, and that’s why he’s where he is”.