Mourinho locks onto Liverpool target as blockbuster double Spurs raid plan made

Tottenham have an interest in Lille’s Liverpool-linked defender Sven Botman and also want to sign a box-to-box midfielder, according to a report.

Spurs have enjoyed a solid season to date in Jose Mourinho’s first full campaign at the helm; the north London club continue to fight on four fronts and have booked their place in the Carabao Cup final.

Indeed, key signings such as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Sergio Reguilon have helped their upturn in form.

But Mourinho is planning bigger things at Tottenham and is aware of the need to find more new recruits.

According to transfer expert Duncan Castles, the Portuguese wants a left-sided centre-back and an explosive midfielder.

As such, Botman has reportedly emerged as a target. Reports have linked Liverpool with a swoop for the 20-year-old Dutchman to ease their defensive concerns.

“I can tell you that in addition to the interest from Liverpool, Jose Mourinho likes Botman as a player,” Castles told the Transfer Window podcast.

“We’ve told you previously that Mourinho has targeted two positions in his side for improvement and is asking the club to fund purchases in those areas.

 

“One is a box-to-box midfielder, which he is prioritising, and the other is a left-sided quick centre-back, left-footed centre-back, which is what Botman is.”

However, Castles noted that both deals look unlikely to happen in the January transfer window.

Botman deal unlikely in January

“Whether he will get money to do those deals in January I think is highly questionable,” the journalist added.

“We saw Mourinho talk about transfers recently and I think if you read behind the lines you can see a bit of the difficulties there are in extracting cash from Levy.

“He said he wasn’t expecting something to happen in January.”

Castles added that, for now, Lille remain keen on holding onto Botman. The centre-back has enjoyed an incredible rise at Lille, after joining from Ajax’s Under-21 ranks in July.

He has played all 19 of Lille’s Ligue 1 matches this season, with the club a point behind leaders Lyon.

“I’m hearing that there have been calls from an array of English clubs, in addition to Liverpool that we told you about,” Castles added.

“But no one as yet has come up with the scale of financial offer required to make that deal happen.

“The consideration from Botman’s side is having just joined Lille, having moved from Ajax, having done so well in the first half of the season for Lille, is it too dangerous to move in January?

“January moves are problematic, you don’t have any adaptation time.”

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