Tottenham Hotspur handed massive blow in pursuit of key transfer target - with Al-Nassr set to sign player instead: report
Tottenham Hotspur are looking to spend the money they've received from selling Harry Kane, but are struggling to do so at the moment
Tottenham Hotspur look set to miss out on a key defensive target this transfer window, with Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr moving ahead in negotiations.
The departure of Harry Kane has meant that Tottenham have made signing a striker a priority in the remainder of this window. Manager Ange Postecoglou, however, has also identified other positions within the squad that need reinforcements before deadline day.
One position that the Australian is paying particular attention to is in central defence. Speculation remains surrounding the future of Spurs stalwart Eric Dier, who was left out of their opening day draw with Brentford on Sunday. Despite this, Spurs don't look like signing his preferred replacement, with Al-Nassr closing in on a key target.
According to The Athletic, Al-Nassr are close to signing Clement Lenglet from Barcelona this summer, despite Tottenham retaining an interest in the Frenchman following his loan spell at the club last season.
Previous reports have suggested that Lenglet would eventually get his move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before transfer deadline day, but with the arrival of Micky van de Ven from Wolfsburg, Spurs have opened the door for Al-Nassr to steal in after failing to push ahead in their pursuit of Lenglet.
Transfermarkt values Lenglet at just £8.5m now, a considerable drop from how highly he was rated four years ago. The Frenchman is still only 28 and has three years remaining on his Barcelona contract, too, but the La Liga champions are desperate to sell him this summer.
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Indeed, Lenglet isn't even registered with Barcelona and failed to feature during pre-season for the Catalan side.
Should Lenglet join Al-Nassr, he will join up with Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Alex Telles at the Riyadh-based club.
Lenglet played 35 times for Tottenham in all competitions last season.
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Spurs have been linked with a move for Chelsea misfit Romelu Lukaku this summer as a replacement for Harry Kane. Tottenham are also reportedly interested in 'the next Thierry Henry' to fill the gap left by their all-time record goalscorer, while Djed Spence has been linked with an exit this summer after making just four appearances since signing last summer.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.