Sport Witness

Manchester City’s Yan Couto is rejecting a move to Tottenham in favour of joining Borussia Dortmund instead.

That’s according to Sport BILD, who report that Tottenham were ‘vying’ for the defender but found themselves rejected by him.

The newspaper explains that Couto is the top candidate for Dortmund at this moment in time as they look to sign a full-back, an area they consider in need of strengthening.

He is likely to cost around €25m to get from Manchester City, who do not have him in their plans after he returned from a loan spell at Girona.

Tottenham are also ‘vying’ for the player’s signature but the Brazilian wants to join Dortmund, knowing there is an opportunity for him to establish himself as the Germans are ‘understaffed’ in his position.

He, therefore, has rejected the opportunity to join Tottenham and is instead waiting and hoping that he gets the move to Dortmund that he wants.

They’ve been moving for the best part of a fortnight and reports this week had them getting closer to securing an agreement with Manchester City and pushing the matter over the line.

We’re a bit doubtful of the claims regarding Tottenham, though, as they don’t need a right back given they have Pedro Porro in the position and have just signed Archie Gray who can also play there. In addition, Djed remains at the club for now, even if there’s some doubt around his future.

Instead, this feels more like Sport BILD making more of it than there is and perhaps even backing their own horse, insinuating they’ve won the battle with a Premier League side when in reality there wasn’t much of a tussle.

Over the past few days, endless claims from Italy have stated Tottenham Hotspur could be the next destination for Juventus’ Federico Chiesa.

These claims intensified after the 26-year-old’s agent Fali Ramadani made a trip to London.

Tuesday’s edition of Corriere dello Sport picks up on that and mentions Tottenham as an option for the forward.

AS Roma and Napoli had looked at Chiesa, but they are no longer in the picture. This has seen Ramadani travel to England to gather interest from Tottenham and Chelsea. The report states there are no developments on this case, despite the agent’s trip to London.

Chiesa’s deal lasts until 2025 and he isn’t close to signing an extension. The Old Lady are looking to sell him this summer, to avoid losing him for free next year.

Meanwhile, Calciomercato state Ange Postecoglou’s side have asked the agent about the fee needed to sign his client. There’s no mention of any figures, but Tottenham will decide in the next few hours on whether to proceed to sign him.

La Stampa, relayed by TuttoMercatoWeb, claim Juve technical director Cristiano Giuntoli has no plans to let the player leave for less than €25m.

Spurs aren’t looking for a striker, but the report indicates they could make an approach to sign Chiesa because the asking price is ‘considered a bargain’.

And that appears to be the key here. Tottenham are considering the deal on a bargain basis, which means Juventus and Chiesa’s agent need to be realistic with their demands.

Should no other club arrive then it’s likely they will be.

At the weekend, Tuttosport reported AC Milan are planning to make a decisive move to sign Tottenham Hotspur’s Emerson Royal.

Journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claims the Tottenham player is ‘one step away’ from arriving at the San Siro.

The Italian club have been working on this deal for the past few days, and have stepped up in the ‘last few hours’, after Alessandro Florenzi suffered a serious injury in a friendly against Manchester City.

Florenzi is expected to undergo surgery, making the Emerson deal much more more necessary.

Di Marzio says the Rossoneri are ‘closer than ever to closing’ the deal for the 25-year-old and an ‘agreement with Tottenham is very close’. He adds Milan are trying to close the deal with Spurs this week, for around €14/15m plus bonuses.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have been requesting €20m for the Brazilian, but they have now lowered their request to €15m plus €3m bonuses. That’s according to Calciomercato, who state the fullback is close to joining Milan.

Florenzi’s injury saw Milan accelerate their efforts and they made new contact with Spurs on Sunday.

It’s claimed Milan’s initial bid was around €12m and they are preparing a new offer, to reach the €15m plus bonuses requested by Tottenham. Paulo Fonseca’s side are optimistic of securing Emerson’s services this summer.

According to a claim in the Turkish media, Galatasaray are still showing interest in Tottenham Hotspur’s Emerson Royal and Newcastle United’ s Kieran Trippier.

Both players have been linked with a summer move to the Turkish champions as they look to bring in an experienced right back.

Yeni Asir today report Emerson and Tripper are on Galatasaray’s wish list as they work to replace Serge Aurier in this window. The Ivorian spent the second half of last season with the Turkish champions, although he didn’t impress enough to earn himself a long-term contract.

Galatasaray reportedly made attempts to sign Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but after being priced out of a move for the 26-year-old they’ve turned their attention to Emerson and Trippier.

Tottenham are looking to offload Emerson and the Brazilian has also been linked with a move to AC Milan. The Italian club, however, are being a little unrealistic with their offers, according to the majority of reports.

Trippier could also been on a move this summer after reports Newcastle United would consider a sale. With just a year left on his contract the Magpies could look to cash in on him.

According to a claim in the Turkish media, Galatasaray are still showing interest in Tottenham Hotspur’s Emerson Royal and Newcastle United’ s Kieran Trippier.

Both players have been linked with a summer move to the Turkish champions as they look to bring in an experienced right back.

Yeni Asir today report Emerson and Tripper are on Galatasaray’s wish list as they work to replace Serge Aurier in this window. The Ivorian spent the second half of last season with the Turkish champions, although he didn’t impress enough to earn himself a long-term contract.

Galatasaray reportedly made attempts to sign Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but after being priced out of a move for the 26-year-old they’ve turned their attention to Emerson and Trippier.

Tottenham are looking to offload Emerson and the Brazilian has also been linked with a move to AC Milan. The Italian club, however, are being a little unrealistic with their offers, according to the majority of reports.

Trippier could also been on a move this summer after reports Newcastle United would consider a sale. With just a year left on his contract the Magpies could look to cash in on him.

On July 9th, we covered claims from Spain that Tottenham Hotspur are ahead of Real Madrid in the chase for Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García. It was also stated the Premier League side could launch an attack to sign him this summer.

Last week, Sport reported García can only leave if his €25m release clause is activated.

Thursday’s edition of Mundo Deportivo says Tottenham are one of the goalkeeper’s ‘strong suitors’.

The stopper started featuring regularly towards the end of last season, and managed to keep 12 clean sheets and conceded 10 goals from 21 games. He played a role in helping Espanyol secure promotion to the top flight.

Spurs, Real Madrid and Arsenal have taken notice of his performances, while Espanyol are determined to fend off the interested parties. La Grada recently reported his clause will increase later in the window.

Mundo relay that and state that the Spaniard’s clause will increase to €30m from August 15th. They add the buyout clause will further rise to €35m if he were to receive a call up from Spain’s senior team.

La Roja manager Luis de la Fuente will announce his squad in August, for September’s international break. Unai Simon will be on the sidelines for four to five months.

Mundo suggest there could be a possibility for De La Fuente to pick García, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s Arnau Tenas. If that happens, the Espanyol player’s asking price will be €35m.

Tottenham or another club keen on signing García must hurry up, to avoid paying more after August 15th.

On July 9th, we covered claims from Spain that Tottenham Hotspur are ahead of Real Madrid in the chase for Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García. It was also stated the Premier League side could launch an attack to sign him this summer.

Last week, Sport reported García can only leave if his €25m release clause is activated.

Thursday’s edition of Mundo Deportivo says Tottenham are one of the goalkeeper’s ‘strong suitors’.

The stopper started featuring regularly towards the end of last season, and managed to keep 12 clean sheets and conceded 10 goals from 21 games. He played a role in helping Espanyol secure promotion to the top flight.

Spurs, Real Madrid and Arsenal have taken notice of his performances, while Espanyol are determined to fend off the interested parties. La Grada recently reported his clause will increase later in the window.

Mundo relay that and state that the Spaniard’s clause will increase to €30m from August 15th. They add the buyout clause will further rise to €35m if he were to receive a call up from Spain’s senior team.

La Roja manager Luis de la Fuente will announce his squad in August, for September’s international break. Unai Simon will be on the sidelines for four to five months.

Mundo suggest there could be a possibility for De La Fuente to pick García, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s Arnau Tenas. If that happens, the Espanyol player’s asking price will be €35m.

Tottenham or another club keen on signing García must hurry up, to avoid paying more after August 15th.

Brazilian outlet Premier League Brasil shares some interesting updates on Emerson Royal’s situation at Tottenham Hotspur.

The website claims that with AC Milan now looking weaker in the chase for the fullback, another club joined the race.

It’s first explained that the Rossoneri, who already had a €15m bid rejected by Tottenham, made a second attempt and again failed to reach the €20m request.

Now Borussia Dortmund joined the battle and outbid Milan by offering €20m. Emerson, however, is still to give the green light to that move.

It’s been repeatedly said that the player had a verbal agreement with the Rossoneri, so perhaps that could give them some extra time to find a deal with Tottenham.

Earlier on Friday, reports in the Italian media hadn’t sounded very optimistic about that, though, as it was claimed that the Serie A giants were looking at other options due to Spurs’ asking price.

So we should now wait and see if the player is as keen on joining the Champions League finalists as he was about signing for Milan.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Djed Spence spent the second half of last season on loan at Genoa, where he clocked in 853 minutes from 16 games.

The Serie A side have decided against using their €10m purchase option but are still keen to sign him this summer.

On June 5th, we covered claims from Italy that Genoa president Andres Blazquez made a trip to London to ask Tottenham to lower their demands to sell Spence.

This claim was backed up by Blazquez last weekend, who insisted that Genoa want to buy the right-back, but Ange Postecoglou’s side aren’t offering any discounts.

Calciomercato claim the north London club are standing firm and are not ready to lower Spence’s asking price below €10m.

According to Genoa sporting director Marco Ottolini, Tottenham’s stance means the club’s efforts to bring the 23-year-old back to the club have to be put on hold for the time being.

“I can’t say that the negotiation is closed because we have almost 55 market days ahead to try to get him back but as of today there are no conditions to renew,” he said.

This indicates the Italian club would only be willing to sign Spence if the Premier League side were to lower the asking price. Spurs have to find a solution for the player if he were to not return to Genoa.

On June 19th, we covered claims from Italy which stated Juventus will face competition from Tottenham Hotspur to sign AS Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana in the summer window.

The midfielder has a year left on his deal and his future seems to be away from the Ligue 1 side.

Fofana made 37 appearances last season and his performances have caught the attention of several European clubs, including Tottenham and the Serie A side.

That’s according to Tutto Juve, who state Spurs are the ‘favourite’ to sign the 25-year-old this summer.

Arsenal, Manchester United and the Turin club have also shown interest in the France international.

It’s claimed Ange Postecoglou’s side ‘want to get ahead of everyone’ in the race to secure his services. The report further adds Tottenham ‘could spend €30m’ to bring the player to London.

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Giovani Lo Celso have deals expiring in 2025, and are expected to leave Spurs after being restricted to limited playing time last season.

Fofana can be used as a defensive midfielder and in the middle of the pitch. His versatility can provide Postecoglou more options if his side were to sign him this summer.