Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly ready “to launch” a bid for a £61m player after being left “unhappy” with summer signing Brennan Johnson.
Mixed start to life for Johnson at Spurs
Arriving from Nottingham Forest on summer deadline day for around £45m, the Wales international has had quite a mixed start to life at his new club.
Johnson’s been handed the starting nod on just three occasions so far by Ange Postecoglou, making another three appearances from the bench.
The 22-year-old has contributed, though, scoring in Tottenham’s 2-1 loss to Wolves last Saturday and providing an assist for star forward Son Heung-min in their 2-1 away win at Crystal Palace.
In fairness to Johnson, he suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the season which may have stifled some of his momentum.
Former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey, speaking to the press in September, was adamant that Tottenham signed an “unbelievable talent” for Postecoglou.
“He’s an unbelievable talent and has shown over the last year or so at Forest what he’s capable of doing,” said Ramsey.
“Hopefully he can take another step going forward, and hopefully for Wales he can be a main part of that for many years to come.
“He has so much ability, it’s about us now just linking him and getting our front three really firing, playing together, giving each other opportunities and asking questions of the opposition.”
Regardless, according to a report by Football Transfers, Spurs are less than impressed with Johnson and his start to life in north London.
Spurs ready Raphinha bid with Johnson failing to impress
Indeed, the outlet claims Tottenham are “not entirely happy” with the winger’s performances, which has partly motivated them to look to the January transfer market in search of forward options.
As per FT, Spurs are “to launch” a bid for Barcelona forward Raphinha as a result – with both Johnson and Richarlison seen as possible weak links in the attacking areas.
They’ve also apparently dropped their interest in a striker, instead believing that Son is more than capable of leading the line after his excellent start to 2023/24.
This comes after reports that Spurs were contenders to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney, but it is thought that Spurs are ready to drop interest in the Englishman in favour of a move for Raphinha.
Barca would apparently be willing to compromise on his £61m asking price by including Cristian Romero in a swap deal, though we can’t see Spurs being open to letting him leave.
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Raphinha strengths |
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Through balls |
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Key passes |
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Crossing |
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Long shots |
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Taking set-pieces |
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Defensive contribution |
The Brazilian, on a reported £206,000-per-week at Camp Nou (GiveMeSport), scored seven goals and assisted seven others in 36 La Liga appearances under Xavi last term.
Raphinha has been praised by pundit Noel Whelan too, who called him “fantastic” in an interview with Football Insider two years ago.
“Raphinha is fantastic on the ball, great on the eye and can produce moments of magic that other players simply can’t,” said ex-Leeds forward Whelan.
“But what I really like is his work out of possession. He is not afraid to really work hard, track back and double-up with the full-back. It is an attribute you sometimes don’t get with technically talented players. They do one side of it but not the other. That is not the case with Raphinha, though.”
