Report: Spurs the club most keen on signing 'incredibly aggressive' £6.3m midfielder this summer

By Giuseppe Labellarte

Tottenham Hotspur could do with bolstering their midfield ranks this summer.

Spurs sold Dele Alli in January, while Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso are away on loan.

It seems unlikely that the duo will feature in Antonio Conte’s plans for next season and beyond.

Meanwhile, Harry Winks’ future at Tottenham remains uncertain amid links with other clubs.

Conte struck gold in January by signing Rodrigo Bentancur, who has improved Spurs’ midfield.

But the Tottenham boss will need more strength in depth if he’s to take his team to the next level.

One midfielder reportedly on Spurs’ radar is RB Leipzig star Konrad Laimer.

According to Austrian outlet FAZ, via Sport Witness, Tottenham are ‘more interested’ in the 24-year-old than his other suitors.

“Fought his way” into Tottenham scout notebooks

Laimer, who cost Leipzig £6.3million in 2017, played both matches against Spurs in the Champions League in 2020.

According to BILD, the Austria international ‘fought his way’ into their scouts’ notebooks after these two matches.

However, FAZ has also reported in no uncertain terms that Laimer isn’t willing to discuss his future until the summer.

The newspaper claims that anyone who ‘wants to spoil’ the player’s mood would ask him about his future.

He either ‘waves off’ the talks or ‘grimaces’, and the sentiment is ‘leave me alone’ even if he won’t say that directly.

Laimer simply ‘does not want to comment on it’ and doesn’t intend to change that stance for a few weeks.

For him, now is ‘simply not the right’ time as his focus is on Leipzig as they gear up for a crucial end to the season.

They are in the Europa League semi-finals and the DFB Cup final, and hope to qualify for the Champions League.

Can Tottenham land N’Golo Kante 2.0 next term?

The Bundesliga website has compared Laimer’s style of play to that of Chelsea and France star N’Golo Kante.

Emmanuel Petit said ahead of Euro 2020: “Seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is water. The other 30 percent is covered by Konrad Laimer.”

The Bundesliga website added: “You’ll be hard pressed to find a player who harries the opposition quite as intensively as Laimer, who is also a dab hand at shielding the ball, recycling possession and facilitating counter-attacks.

“‘Dirty Work’ could be his middle name.”

And former RB Salzburg head coach Adi Hutter said of Laimer: “He is incredibly aggressive on the ball. Challenges opponents very hard and brings established professionals to the ground. He knows exactly what he wants.