Tottenham Hotspur aim to beat their Premier League rivals to the signing of a promising EFL talent, according to reports this week...

What's the word?

Football Insider claim that Spurs are keeping tabs on Stoke City centre-back Harry Souttar ahead of the January transfer window, but they are merely one of many top-flight teams eyeing up a move.

It's thought that the Lilywhites' recruitment team have sent scouts to watch the 22-year-old defender on several occasions this season.

Aston Villa are one of the teams also mentioned with interest and the Potters are bracing themselves for bids in the coming months.

It remains to be seen how much the five-cap Australian international would cost, especially having signed a new long-term contract extension earlier in the year. Transfermarkt value him at just £3.6m, whilst ex-Stoke man Mike Pejic believes he's worth more than £20m.

Rodon 2.0

Spurs are no strangers to signing players from the lower divisions, with Dele Alli perhaps being the biggest success story, Ryan Sessegnon and Jack Clarke less so.

However, this potential swoop has all the hallmarks to be a similar one to that of Joe Rodon, who signed for £15m from Swansea City a year ago - almost to the day.

Whilst he is yet to properly break through in the first team, the Welsh international is a very promising talent and one who could play a major part in the club's future for years to come.

It's Jose Mourinho who deserves the credit for that, having taken a wild punt on Rodon last year.

Tottenham's sporting director Fabio Paratici could look to repeat this trick with Souttar, who has been touted for big things by those around him throughout his short career to date.

During a loan spell at Fleetwood Town, his former manager Joey Barton lauded him as "outstanding", whilst Potters boss Martin O'Neill once described him as a "player blessed with great natural attributes" with "good game intelligence", via The Stoke Sentinel.

Furthermore, he has also been dubbed a "Rolls-Royce of a defender" by the club's legendary defender Ryan Shawcross, earning comparisons to the likes of Harry Maguire and Virgil van Dijk.

Rodon, who excelled at Swansea before joining Spurs, was likened to both Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, so Souttar would certainly add another interesting element to the future of Tottenham's backline, especially when considering the pair have been praised ever so highly.

Standing at 6 foot 5, the Stoke man is a colossal aerial presence and he has won an average of 4.6 headers per game in the Championship this term, on top of 2.1 interceptions and 1.8 tackles per match, via WhoScored, which backs up O'Neill's claims over his football intelligence.

All in all, a move for Souttar would be quite a shrewd one, though Nuno would need to find space for him in the squad.

Paratici must look to repeat Mourinho's masterstroke with Rodon with a swoop for the Potters giant this January.

AND in other news, 87 touches, 89% duels won: "Phenomenal" Spurs beast has now handed Nuno a huge dilemma...