Spurs now talking to Juventus as Iling-Junior race takes pre-January twist

Tottenham have commenced initial dialogue over potentially signing one big club’s “very quick” player in January, according to reports.

Postecoglou’s triple January transfer plan for Spurs

As per some rumours from the English press, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou wants to make three new signings for the Lilywhites next month and shore up key areas of the squad.

The Australian, who has guided Tottenham through a terrific early campaign overall since joining from Celtic, has his eyes on a new centre-back, midfielder and forward (The Daily Mail).

Micky Van de ven’s recent hamstring injury has highlighted Spurs’ real lack of depth in central defence, while both Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr will leave Postecoglou short in midfield when they depart for AFCON soon.

Son Heung-min will also travel to represent South Korea in the Asia Cup, depriving Tottenham of their arguable star player this season. A plethora of players are on the treatment table right now as well, so January additions look like a necessity rather than a luxury.

In terms of new forwards, the Lilywhites are thought to be interested in Al-Ittihad winger Jota – a player who Postecoglou knows very well from his time at Celtic. Meanwhile, another player to be repeatedly linked is Juventus starlet Samuel Iling-Junior. The 20-year-old has scarcely featured under Massimiliano Allegri this season, having played just 131 minutes in Serie A over 2023/2024.

Tottenham commence initial dialogue over Iling-Junior

Sharing an update on his situation, Italian news outlet TUTTOmercatoWEB claim Tottenham have “started initial contacts” over signing Iling-Junior in January. The north Londoners are joined by Aston Villa and Brighton in making the same move, and while no official offer is one the table just yet, it appears dialogue over move has begun as the window nears its opening.

Thought to be valued at around £15.5 million, Iling-Junior would represent an affordable and fairly promising option to bolster Postecoglou’s attacking options. Juventus and Spurs already have a wonderful history of doing buisness together, with both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur going on to become a real stars.

While Iling-Junior isn’t a regular under Allegri by any means, journalist Michele Neri has previously revealed to TNT Sports that people in Turin rate the winger highly.

“Iling Junior is a very quick player, who loves to take on opposing full-backs and attack the vertical spaces, in a very direct way,” Neri explained. “He is a left winger who can also play as a right winger if needed. He has a great sense for dribbling and a speed from a standing start that other Juventus players do not have.

“In these qualities you can absolutely see shades of Rafael Leao when the AC Milan superstar was a bit younger. The fans went crazy for him after the Benfica game where he played 20 minutes and really shone, providing an assist to Milik.”