Tottenham: 24-year-old Spaniard linked; Manchester City star on radar; Chadli to move on

By John Arkless

Although the transfer deadline is now just days away, Tottenham Hotspur have still only managed to add two new faces to the squad that finished third in the Premier League last season.

A steady but unspectacular start to the season, where they have won once and drawn two games, suggests that the squad is still fundamentally a good one, but they are still a couple of players short from challenging for the league title for a second successive season.

However, Spurs may be about to add not just another name to their squad, but a name of real world class quality, after they were rumoured by the Daily Mirror to be plotting a move for Real Madrid midfielder Isco.

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Zinedine Zidane has to trim his squad for the upcoming season, and after blocking Chelsea’s move for Colombia’s James Rodriguez, Isco has now become available on the transfer market.

The 24-year-old Spaniard has made 151 appearances for Real in just three years at the club, scoring 22 times in the process. Whilst these stats do not suggest great goal-scoring prowess from Isco, it is important to remember that he has spent much of his time at Madrid as a substitute, supplying ammunition for Cristiano Ronaldo, as opposed to scoring for himself.

Isco’s talents lie mainly in the creative side of the game, and his technique is typical of the most recent generation of footballers to emerge from Spain. If he were to join Tottenham, he would add to the creative talents of Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela and Dele Alli, bringing Champions League winning experience and extra quality to an already deadly area of Spurs’ line-up.

Whether the move would be a loan or a permanent transfer is still up for discussion, but if Isco were to make the move to Spurs, they would become a much more frightening attacking prospect at home and in Europe this season.

Isco is not the only player Spurs have been linked with a loan move for, with French sporting outlet l’Equipe reporting that they are closing on a deal to bring Manchester City centre-back Elaquim Mangala to White Hart Lane on a temporary basis.

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Mangala, who doesn’t appear to be in Pep Guardiola’s plans for the upcoming season, would be unlikely to break up the partnership of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen at the heart of the Spurs defence, instead acting as back-up for the Belgian pair. Currently, Spurs only really have Kevin Wimmer covering the two positions, and bringing in Mangala on a temporary deal may just make Pochettino feel slightly more secure ahead of the new season.

As for Mangala, he has had a difficult time at the Etihad for large parts of his career, but many of his problems have stemmed from not playing with an authoritative partner. Alongside Vincent Kompany, for example, he has often looked an excellent defender, but when placed next to someone like Nicolas Otamendi, City have experienced a number of defensive collapses.

If he were coming in as cover, and playing alongside a more dominant partner, Mangala could be a good depth signing for Spurs this summer.

Finally, it looks as if Nacer Chadli may be close to a Tottenham exit with a loan move to West Bromwich Albion on the cards.

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Chadli, who has made 119 appearances at three seasons in North London, was a big part of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad in the 2014/15 season, but fell out of favour last campaign as Spurs challenged for the title.

A pacy wide man who showed he can score goals, he is exactly the kind of player West Bromwich Albion need. The Midlands side are just slightly stagnant in midfield, and currently look as if they will rely far too much on the power of Salomon Rondon to win them points, rather than creating chances from behind.

It looks to be a good move for everyone.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Nathan Congleton