Tottenham: More N'Koudou confusion; Arsenal to battle for defender; Algerian striker to be targeted?

By John Arkless

Tottenham Hotspur have had a very quiet transfer window, with only two new names arriving at the club ahead of their season opener against Everton on Saturday.

Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen have both been added to the Spurs squad, who will be looking to improve on their 3rd place finish from last campaign. However, three weeks ago it looked as if the club had secured a third signing in the shape of Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, but problems with a change in the presidency at his current club Marseille held the deal up.

Now, more confusion has been added to the deal, after Clinton N’Jie, Tottenham’s Cameroonian forward who was set to go on loan to Marseille in return, was pictured in training for Mauricio Pochettino’s as they count down the days until their fixture against Everton.

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Although Spurs still have plenty of time to push through the N’Jie/N’Koudou deal, which was all but agreed back in mid-July, it will be a great source of frustration that they still have N’Jie in training, whilst N’Koudou is back in France not doing any work on the pitch.

Hungry, quick and a fast learner, N’Koudou has been on Mauricio Pochettino’s shopping list all summer, and the Argentine will be hoping that the deal is done as soon as possible. However, the deal still looks to be some way off being completed.

Elsewhere, Tottenham may face another battle to sign any more players, specifically from rivals Arsenal, who will battle Spurs for German defender Lukas Klostermann, according to German newspaper Bild.

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Klostermann, who made 30 appearances in the 2. Bundesliga for champions RB Leipzig last season can play both at centre-back and right-back, and is currently on Olympic duty for his country. The 20-year-old has been valued at £25 million by his club, an astronomical fee, but he is widely considered to be one of the best young defenders currently plying his trade in Germany.

Although a move to Arsenal, who are missing Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista is more likely, Spurs should not disregard the idea of signing a new defender. Jan Vertonghen is injured, leaving just Toby Aldwerweireld and Kevin Wimmer as established options in the middle of defence. Klostermann’s ability to cover both central defence and also Kyle Walker at right back is an enviable quality, but Pochettino is supposedly not looking for any new defenders.

Finally, Spurs and Arsenal have been linked with a battle for another player, after Sporting Lisbon’s Islam Slimani rejected a new contract with the Portuguese club.

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The 28-year-old Algerian who shot to prominence in the 2014 World Cup, scored over 30 times last season for Sporting and has demanded that his club allows him to leave and pursue opportunities elsewhere.

A £25 million release clause in his contract expired in June, meaning that Sporting now hold all the cards for his sale, and could potentially push the price up. With Vincent Janssen joining Harry Kane in the Spurs front line, it is unlikely that Pochettino will be looking for another forward, but a player of Slimani’s quality should not be dismissed. He will not be short of suitors, and it is unlikely that Slimani will end up at White Hart Lane next season.

Featured Image: All Rights Reserved by Mutsu Kawamori