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With other clubs already making inroads into their summer transfer objectives, Tottenham look to have missed out on another player they registered an interest in, as talkSPORT claim that Sassuolo winger Domenico Berardi is set to sign for Juventus. The club were reportedly linked with the winger in the previous two transfer windows, although they failed to secure a deal with the Italian outfit – leaving him free to sign for the Turin giants.
It looks to be a big blow for Spurs, who have, at times, lacked out-and-out pace in the wide positions, as well as missing depth in terms of cover for the likes of Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen. Berardi certainly looked an achievable transfer; the lure of Champions League football as well as a move to a big club mean Spurs are a far more attractive proposition than his current club Sassuolo, who finished 6th in Serie A and only qualified for the Europa League because Juventus defeated AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final.
Berardi’s pace and technical ability would certainly be beneficial to the Spurs squad, and there is no doubt that Mauricio Pochettino could mould the Italian into a successful winger of Premier League standard – Berardi’s 8 goals and 8 assists in 32 games across all competitions is impressive given the player is just 21 years of age. This therefore appears to be a big loss if talkSPORT are accurate; Juventus look to be buying one of the more promising young players in European football.
Another young player that Spurs face strong competition to sign is Lyon centre-half Samuel Umtiti. Insidefutbol report that the French defender, who was born in Cameroon but has represented the French national side at youth level, will wait until after the Euros before making a decision on his future, but that Barcelona have already offered the French side €25 million Euros to convince him to sign.
Naturally, Spurs cannot compete with the Spanish giants if they have already submitted a bid of that size to Lyon, so a swoop for Umtiti looks fairly unlikely if the reports are accurate. Putting this aside, Umtiti himself would be an impressive signing for Spurs – the powerful centre-back is certainly quick enough to adapt to the pace of the Premier League, but questions would be asked over his physical prowess – Umtiti stands at 5″11, which is by no means small, but he would have to prove his ability at dealing with big, strong strikers like Andy Carroll, Olivier Giroud and Salomon Rondon, who would all have a height advantage over him.
Of course, smaller players like Javier Mascherano – now playing for the Catalan side – prove that height isn’t everything, and Umtiti would provide adept cover for the likes of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, but would be unlikely to usurp either in the strongest starting eleven.
Concluding with a possible departure, as fears over the future of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris look to have been put to bed as the Mirror report that the Frenchman will sign a new contract after the Euros. While the Spurs captain, who will also captain his international side in the summer, has come under criticism from some sections of the club’s fanbase for some of his performances over the season, he remains one of Europe’s top goalkeepers and has firmly established himself as Pochettino’s first choice goalkeeper.
It will be a relief to the club to see the captain commit his long term future to the club, and is clearly another cog in the Spurs project – with the manager Mauricio Pochettino already committing his future to the club, and with the Wembley deal secured, tying Lloris down will only add to the optimism surrounding the club going into next season.
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