Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Manuel Lazzari to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Italian publication Il Messaggero (via Sport Witness), who claim that Spurs are keeping a very close eye on the situation of the Lazio midfielder ahead of a potential swoop in the winter window.
The report goes on to state that, should Maurizio Sarri wish to bring his own reinforcements into the Serie A side this January, Lazio will have to sell a “valuable” player in order to raise funds, with the 28-year-old Lazzari reported to be Italian club’s sacrificial squad member.
Would Lazzari be a good signing?
Yes
No
Conte would love him
While it is true that Lazzari has not been an overly important player for Lazio so far this season, the versatile right midfielder nevertheless proved last term that he would be something of a perfect fit for Antonio Conte’s system.
Indeed, over his 32 Serie A appearances last time out, the £16.2m-rated man scored two goals, registered five assists and created six big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 0.8 shots and making 0.9 key passes per game.
The player nicknamed “Duracell” also made an average of 0.6 interceptions, 0.8 tackles, 22.5 passes and won 3.8 duels per fixture.
These returns saw the £45k-per-week midfielder earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.79, ranking him as Lazio’s 13th-best performer in the top flight of Italian football.
As such, it is no surprise that a number of publications reported that Lazzari was one of the first players Conte informed Fabio Paratici and Daniel Levy he would like to sign upon his arrival earlier this year, as the 28-year-old very much looks as if he would be something of a perfect candidate at right wing-back in the 52-year-old Spurs side.
That leads us to believe that Tottenham must do all they can to land the Italy international in the January transfer window.
And, with Matt Doherty being tipped to leave North London next month, there could well be space in both Conte’s squad, as well as the club’s wage budget, to get a deal over the line for Lazzari.
In other news: Conte should brutally axe £27m-rated “freak” who must never play for Spurs again