Tottenham Hotspur are now ready to bring in Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella as a replacement for Ivan Perisic, according to a recent report from Football Transfers.What’s the latest Tottenham transfer news?
Fabrizio Romano reports that no decision has been made regarding Perisic’s future at N17, however, there are question marks over whether the Croatia international will remain a Spurs player next season.Destiny Udogie is set to be part of new manager Ange Postecoglou’s plans, having spent last season on loan at Udinese, with the Australian recently making the decision to take the 20-year-old left-back on their pre-season tour of Thailand.
Udogie being handed a more prominent role in the squad could reduce Perisic’s game time, and there have been reports that Daniel Levy could even end up terminating the 34-year-old’s contract, amid interest from Turkish Super Lig side Fenerbahce.
Bringing in at least one new centre-back appears to be the priority for Postecoglou, with Romano recently reporting that Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba remains Spurs’ “top target”, while they are also interested in signing Wolfsburg’s Micky van de Ven.
The new manager is also keen on strengthening the left side of his defence, with Football Transfers now reporting Tottenham are closely following the situation of Cucurella at Chelsea.
The Lilywhites are ready to bring the left-back in as a replacement for Perisic, and it could be a fairly easy transfer to orchestrate, as the Blues are desperate to get rid of him, although the type of fee they are set to demand is currently unclear.
Last summer, Chelsea paid £55m for the Spain international, and he is keen to remain at the club, but a move to Spurs could be an attractive proposition, given their status and location.
If Tottenham are able to sign the former Brighton & Hove Albion man, Postecoglou plans to play him alongside Yves Bissouma, as an inverted full-back, allowing his old teammate to push further up the pitch.
What positions can Marc Cucurella play?
The 24-year-old has predominantly featured in a left wing-back role throughout his career so far, however, he has also featured slightly further forward at left-wing, as well as at centre-back on occasions.
Hailed as “brilliant” by Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard, the defender was one of Brighton’s top performers in the 2021/22 campaign, averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.11, the third-highest figure in the squad.While the Spaniard has not gotten off to the best of starts at Chelsea, coming under plenty of criticism from fans and the media alike last season, there were some promising signs, with UEFA’s Technical Observer Panel praising him after the Blues’ victory against Borussia Dortmund, saying:
“Cucurella was fantastic, claiming numerous turnovers in the first half and reading the game intelligently as well as showing aerial strength and an accuracy of distribution which underpinned the victory for Chelsea.”
Cucurella ranks highly for some key metrics over the past year, including tackling, placing him in the 97th percentile for tackles per 90, when compared to his positional peers, and if he is able to reignite his form from his time with Brighton, he could be a solid signing for Spurs.
