Ange Postecoglou is being tipped to potentially raid his former club Tottenham Hotspur for four first-team stars in the January transfer window, but TEAMtalk can reveal why two of those potential moves will not happen.
Following weeks of speculation, Nottingham Forest finally pulled the plug on Nuno Espirito Santo’s time as manager after the former Spurs boss revealed that his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis had soured after just one game of the new season.
It was confirmed on Monday night that Nuno had gone, with Forest announcing Postecoglou as his successor after the Australian was sacked by Tottenham following the club’s Europa League success.
And with Postecoglou back in the Premier League at the first available opportunity, it’s no surprise that he is being linked with raids on his old club.
The Express has named four players who could all be on Postecoglou’s radar come the new year, as he looks to bolster a Forest squad that secured a seventh-placed finish last season.
To that end, TEAMtalk have assessed the players named by the outlet and whether or not they could actually make the move to The City Ground.
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Destiny Udogie ❌
The Italy international played his best football in a Tottenham shirt during Postecoglou’s first 10 games in charge of the club before injuries started to strike.
Udogie has yet to start a game for Thomas Frank early in the campaign and is spot is currently being filled by new England squad member Djed Spence.
However, Udogie showed flashes in pre-season that he was looking more like his old self, being used as more of a conventional full-back rather than pushing into central midfield to cause overloads.
Spence’s emergence has put pressure on Udogie’s spot, but the former is not a natural in that position and it would be a huge shock if Frank let the better left-sided option leave midway through the season.
Ben Davies ✅
This is one that actually makes a fair bit of sense when you factor in Postecoglou’s recent for Davies’ ability to play in multiple positions.
The Wales star can operate as a left-back, a left-sided centre-back in a two or in a three and has always been a consistent performer at Premier League level.
The 32-year-old will be out of contract in the summer of 2026 and could move in a bargain deal this January or even be loaned to Forest ahead of becoming an eventual free agent.
The fact that Tottenham are still looking at bringing in a new left-sided central defender who can also operate as a full-back also appears to have put the nail in Davies’ coffin, and Postecoglou could be willing to strike.
Radu Dragusin ❌
Postecoglou was at the helm when Dragusin arrived in January 2024 in the midst of a Spurs injury defensive crisis.
While he flashed some potential at times, the 23-year-old Romanian international also had his struggles before he suffered an ACL injury in January of this year.
Dragusin is expected to return to light Tottenham training very soon but it would be a huge surprise if the club let him leave so early in his return from a serious injury – an issue that The Express failed to mention as they claimed he was just ‘out of the picture’ under Frank.
Mathys Tel ✅
As TEAMtalk mentioned in our feature on three Tottenham stars who could be on the way out in January, Tel’s exit could very much be on the cards.
Having been brutally left out of Spurs’ Champions League squad, there is every chance that Tel gets a loan move in the new year to find some regular game time – especially if the north London outfit are able to seal the signing of Manchester City’s Savinho.
Whether that is Forest or not remains to be seen, but the fact Postecoglou knows him very well clearly means that could be an option.
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