Club chief confirms he wants to open talks for “fantastic” Tottenham player

A high-ranking club chief has confirmed that he wants to open talks with Tottenham Hotspur over signing a “fantastic” member of Ange Postecoglou’s squad.

Players who could leave Tottenham in the January transfer window

Postecoglou needs all the help he can get right now, as the under-pressure Spurs boss deals with mounting injuries and absentees in his paper-thin squad.

Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison are all currently on the treatment table with longer-term injuries, with Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur also serving domestic bans at the time of writing (Premier Injuries).

Good news for Spurs is that left-back Ben Davies could be back before the New Year, with Postecoglou stating in his pre-Southampton press conference:

“Ben is not as bad as first thought,” said Postecoglou on Davies.

“There is a chance he could be back hopefully before the new year so that was positive again. Initially, we were a bit worried, but again you need a week for it to settle down, and the latest information I got this morning was that it’s nowhere near as bad as we might have thought it was and hopefully a quicker turnaround for him.”

Postecoglou has been forced to turn to much younger members of his overall squad due to their lack of options, but certain players could apparently leave in January.

Left-back Sergio Reguilon is eager to leave Tottenham next month, according to various reports, with the Spaniard yet to make a single appearance in all competitions this season.

He’s also managed to fight his way into just four matchday squads, despite Postecoglou’s serious lack of options, which is a clear indicator that Tottenham’s boss really doesn’t fancy Reguilon.

Meanwhile, reports from South America have recently claimed that Fluminense are undergoing a “major operation” to sign Richarlison.

Mario Bittencourt confirms Fluminense wants to open talks for Richarlison

Those same reports suggested that their president, Mario Bittencourt, has personally made contact with Richarlison – with the Fluminense official now speaking out himself and confirming their serious interest in the “fantastic” Spurs ace.

Speaking in an interview, via Globo Esporte and Sport Witness, Bittencourt admits Fluminense want to open talks for Richarlison – and they’ve sent a “first document” to N17 asking if Tottenham wish to negotiate a transfer.

“What is concrete is that we have expressed a formal interest in Richarlison. We know how difficult it is to bring him in,” said Bittencourt.

“We believe that he may want to be close to the Brazilian national team, to return home to the club where he excelled. I have a close relationship with him. I was vice-president of football when he arrived.

“The head of scouting [Ricardo Corrêa] was the head of scouting in 2016, he was the one who recommended signing him when he was the top scorer in Série B. I brought Richarlison in as vice-president of football. We’ve created a relationship, not a friendship, but a strong one. We sent a first document to the English club, still without an offer, but asking if they would like to negotiate.”

Expanding further, Fluminense’s president also says that they could offer “interesting” young players in exchange to facilitate a deal.

“Our optimism lies in offering the athlete a project in which he can recover his brilliance. His personal achievements. There are no financial negotiations in progress,” said Bittencourt.

“If there is, we have interesting assets, especially young people. That could be part of the operation. We’re not talking about any names, there’s nothing concrete, but English clubs are looking for our youngsters from time to time. We can talk about preference, priority for the future, but it’s still very embryonic.”