Tottenham: Postecoglou praises resilience following Kane’s departure
Tottenham could gazump Chelsea and Brentford to a blockbuster summer transfer. Tottenham are reportedly leading the race to sign Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson, as they look to beat Chelsea and Brentford to what could be a £50million deal before the summer window closes.
Spurs have been targeting a striker to help replace Harry Kane’s goals following his departure to Bayern Munich – and may have found their man. The Mirror claim that Ange Postecoglu’s side are leading the chase, although they are yet to meet Forest’s £50m asking price for the Wales international.
Spurs do have the money after fetching £100m for Kane, but whether they are willing to spend half of it on the 22-year-old remains to be seen.
Forest are hopeful of keeping Johnson, hence the high valuation, but the significant sale would help cover the club’s budget and spending after bringing another six players to the City Ground this summer after last year’s mass spending spree, leaving them wary of Financial Fair Play.
Chelsea targeted Johnson after missing out on Michael Olise, who dramatically turned the Blues down to sign a new contract at Crystal Palace. They are searching for a versatile forward and Forest’s star may fit the bill, but they are yet to finalise a decision on their target for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.
Brentford showed early interest in Johnson but have since turned their attention to the signing of Fiorentina forward Nicolas Gonzalez. The Bees recently submitted a club-record bid of £34.2million for the 25-year-old as they look to strengthen their attack after striker Ivan Toney was suspended until January for breaching the FA’s betting rules.
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As a result, Tottenham find themselves in a position of strength when it comes to the Johnson deal. Although manager Ange Postecoglou insists the club will focus on outgoings before bringing in any more new players.
He said: “That’s the reality of it. We can’t just keep acquiring players. That affects training and it affects the players. Our focus right now is to try to trim the squad down and see where that takes us. There’s still a couple of weeks left of the window and I’m sure we’ll see movement.”
When asked whether signing a new striker is a priority, Postecoglou replied: “Not necessarily. I know that’s the obvious place people look at because of recent outgoings but we’d been planning for that for a while. There’s still areas we can strengthen in all our lines: defensively, midfield, up front.
“Again that’s not just bringing players in for the sake of it. They have to fit the profile we’re looking at. We’ve purposefully gone a bit younger because we want to build a team here. It’s not about putting the finishing touches on something, we’re building something here. So that’s the mind of profiles we’re looking at.”
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