Tottenham Hotspur could launch a bid for Nahitan Nandez in the coming days...
What's the word?
That's according to renowned Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who claims that Spurs have "approached" Cagliari over a potential move for the 25-year-old midfielder.
"Tottenham have approached Cagliari for Nahitan Nández, as revealed yesterday. He’s in Spurs list as potential new signing but there’s no official bid yet," he revealed on Twitter.
"Tottenham will decide soon whether sign Nandez or not. He’s on the market, price tag around €25/30m" (£26m).
It's not the first time that Nandez has been mooted with interest from the Premier League, with the likes of Leeds and West Ham mentioned throughout the summer window.
Imagine him & Hojbjerg
On Sunday, we got a glimpse of what life is going to look like under Nuno Santo.
The Portuguese head coach got off to the perfect start as his side defeated defending champions Manchester City 1-0 in north London. He deployed a 4-3-3 formation which saw Dele Alli spearhead a three-man midfield, with youth product Oliver Skipp at the base.
Whilst the latter has undoubted talent, especially as he's been touted to become the future captain of the club, it's a lot to ask of him to play every single week. It was only his fourth start in the big time. His day will come.
[snack-amp-story url= "https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more" title= "Read the latest Spurs team and injury news, transfer rumours, gossip and much, much more!"]
Nandez, however, could be a very interesting partner to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who appears to have been given a more box-to-box role under Nuno. Perhaps that's no surprise after the Dane registered three assists (second-most) at Euro 2020 this summer - more than the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Cristiano Ronaldo.
At 5 foot 7, the Uruguayan is a little terrier in the heart of the pitch - think an N'Golo Kante type.
In 2020/21, the diminutive £19.8m-rated dynamo averaged 1.8 tackles and 6.1 duels won per game in Serie A, via SofaScore, whilst his career average sits at two tackles per game. The only Spurs midfielder to exceed such numbers was Hojbjerg.
Furthermore, Nandez ranked amongst the top 20 Serie A players for distance covered, averaging 10.95km per game, which is the sort of industrious presence that could allow Hojbjerg the freedom to get further forward.
The Cagliari star has been described as a "machine" by Italian football expert Conor Clancy. "He’s so powerful but at the same time, has really, really good ball control," he told This is Futbol.
By signing Nandez, Spurs sporting director Fabio Paratici could form a lethal partnership in the engine room. He must look to seal a transfer before the deadline on August 31st.
AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano drops major Spurs transfer claim that'll leave fans buzzing...