Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou is already plotting a number of January moves amid their recent injury woes, including a potential swoop for a former academy product.
Postecoglou was dealt a major blow when star centre back Micky van de Ven limped off with what the Australian manager described as a “significant” hamstring injury early in the 4-1 loss to Chelsea on Tuesday.
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Van de Ven’s injury brought Eric Dier, who has barely played all season, onto the field.
Cristian Romero’s red card also did not help matters, as Postecoglou was forced into a makeshift backline with right back Emerson Royal and midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg both featuring at centre back alongside Dier.
The defensive calamity highlighted Tottenham’s alarming lack of depth at centre back but according to Football Insider, Postecoglou is looking to solve that issue and has three names in his sights.
The report claims Tottenham hold an interest in Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly, Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo as well as Bayer Leverkusen star Edmond Tapsoba, who the club has heavily linked with during the summer.
Tapsoba will not come cheap given he signed a new deal with the German club until June 2028.
But Kelly and Adarabioyo are both out of contract with their respective clubs at the end of the season, meaning they could be sold for a lower fee than normal in January as Bournemouth and Fulham look to avoid losing them for nothing.
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Postecoglou also isn’t just looking for defensive reinforcements in January.
According to The Express, Tottenham are “exploring the possibility” of a surprise move for Sporting winger Marcus Edwards.
Edwards spent 13 years on Tottenham’s books and made only one appearance for the first time in September 2016 before he secured a permanent move away to Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes in 2019.
The winger earned plenty of admirers over his two-and-a-half years at the club including Sporting, who he moved to on deadline day in January 2022.
Edwards reportedly has a release clause of £52 million ($AUD99 million), but Tottenham could sign him for just £34m ($AUD65m) due to a clause in the English star’s contract.
But given Tottenham’s large expenditure in the summer window, Postecoglou may need to sell players in order to raise funds for any January moves.
One player who could help contribute to that is Hojbjerg, who has caught the eye of a European giant.
The Telegraph claims Juventus sent their sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli and his assistant to cast their eye over Hojbjerg in Tottenham’s clash against Chelsea as the Italian side weighs up a move in January.
Hojbjerg began the game on the bench but came on in the first half after James Maddison went down with injury.
The Danish international threw himself into every challenge as he played in the midfield and alongside Dier in a makeshift backline.
Juventus are in desperate need of a new midfielder as Paul Pogba remains suspended due to a doping violation and Nicolo Fagioli is sidelined for breaching betting rules.
Hojbjerg has largely been consigned to a bench role this season with Postecoglou preferring Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr in central midfield.