Tottenham Hotspur could make a surprise move for James Garner, according to football.london reporter Alasdair Gold...

What's the word?

The ever-reliable journalist delivered an update on Spurs' interest in the Manchester United midfielder to his YouTube channel this week.

He said:

“From what I understand, Fabio Paratici really likes him.

"Whenever he saw Djed Spence playing last season he came back really impressed by James Garner.

"A central midfielder, plays more of a defensive midfielder but can push up the pitch a bit. He was on loan at Nottingham Forest last season, helped them get up. Every time Paratici went to watch Spence he came away raving about Garner."

He goes on to suggest that the Red Devils are looking for around £15m for his signature but wonders whether or not the Lilywhites could give him regular game time.

Winks 2.0

Indeed, after signing Yves Bissouma in a £25m deal from Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion already this summer, it's hard to imagine Garner getting many minutes down in north London.

That would echo the situation of Harry Winks, who has fallen out of favour under the Italian and now sits behind the aforementioned summer signing, as well as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp and Rodrigo Bentancur.

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Also English and homegrown, the 21-year-old gem could just be another Winks for Spurs.

Garner is something of a box-to-box midfielder, having delivered an eye-catching four goals and eight assists, as well as averaging 1.9 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per outing, across 44 appearances for Forest on their way to promotion last season but he has done very little outside of the Championship.

Back in 2019/20, he featured for United in four Europa League games but was unable to muster up much of an attacking contribution but managed 1.5 tackles and interceptions per game, as well as a 90% pass success rate, also via WhoScored.

Winks has shown some similar returns throughout the course of his Lilywhites career. It was in the very same season (2019/20) that he enjoyed his most starts for the club in the Premier League, where he averaged 1.3 tackles, 1.2 interceptions and a 90.3% pass success rate.

Garner, who has been lauded as "simply phenomenal" by talent scout Jacek Kulig and an "absolute beauty" by BT Sport pundit Martin Keown, would certainly help Tottenham's homegrown problems, particularly with Winks available for an exit before deadline day.

However, despite Paratici's admiration for the midfielder who Statman Dave dubbed a "maestro", it remains to be seen if there's truly a place for him in Conte's squad.

If signed, the 21-year-old could well just be Conte's next Winks at Hotspur Way and that's surely a worrying sign for the player, who will want plenty of game time after his success at the City Ground.

AND in other news, Spurs remain interested in £50m "frightening talent", it could be Dybala 2.0 for Levy...