With the exception of Belarus, South Korea and starting this Saturday, Germany, global football is currently suspended. The Premier League has been given the all clear by the government to restart after June 1, behind closed doors, and with that in mind, teams are now looking at returning to group training next week.
However, there are still plenty of questions to be answered when it comes to Project Restart, and we’ll learn more this week as meetings are held and votes taken.
Until football returns, we still have plenty of transfer talk to cover, as transfer rumors are something that can survive anything. So let’s take a spin through the Tottenham Hotspur rumor mill in cyberspace. For today’s Tottenham news and notes round-up go here.
As May the Fourth just recently passed, we’d like to say May the Force be with you, or better yet May the Foyth be with you. That’s something Tottenham may actually be saying to FC Barcelona, shockingly, as the Catalan club could come calling.
This definitely seems like a bizarre transfer narrative to say the least. Foyth was not in any Premier League or Champions League squad selected by Jose Mourinho, so while yes he should move on to another place to find playing time, Barca? Really?
It doesn’t really makes sense to me, but I’ll let the origin of this narrative, the Daily Mirror, explain it.
The rest of our transfer talk items relate to Serie A, and cover three players Tottenham are reportedly keen on in the Italian top flight. We start with AS Roma star Nicolo Zaniolo, a 20-year-old midfielder.
His season ended early following an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January, and because of that (and Roma having concern about their finances) he could be available for a cut rate in price. Not too discounted though as they’ll demand no less than €60m (£52m), reports the Daily Star; citing Italian publication Leggo.
Finally, it’s clear that Tottenham want to upgrade both full back positions this summer, and the latest two targets are reportedly Alex Sandro from Juventus and Timothy Castagne from Atalanta. Spurs Web has more on the Serie A duo, citing Tutto Mercato Web, as translated by the Daily Mail.
The reports state that Spurs have identified Sandro as the man to fill the void at left back, an opening we’ve seen ever since Danny Rose went on loan to Newcastle United (and he’s taken his normal candor up another notch apparently during this lockdown)
Castagne could be the new answer at right back, meaning Serge Aurier’s day at the club could ultimately be numbered.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.