Interest in Tottenham Hotspur left-back Sergio Reguilon is increasing ahead of the summer transfer window.
What's the word?
That's according to a report by Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), who claim that Barcelona are targeting the signing of a new left-sided defender at the end of the current campaign, and that the 25-year-old Spurs full-back is one of the players on Xavi's list of potential targets.
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The report goes on to state that, while the Catalan side are looking for a relatively cheap option in the position, they could look to include a player of their own in an approach to Spurs for the Spain international, while it is also suggested that Reguilon's agent, Kia Joorabchian, has a good relationship with the LaLiga side - something that could help to facilitate a switch.
Paratici must axe Reguilon
Following his £32m move to Tottenham back in September of 2020, the argument that Reguilon has not lived up to this rather hefty price tag is a relatively easy one to make.
Indeed, over his 27 Premier League appearances during his debut campaign in north London, the £25.2m-rated left-back offered very little going forwards, scoring no goals, registering three assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of just 0.6 key passes, taking 0.7 shots and completing 0.8 dribbles per game.
These returns saw the 25-year-old average a disappointing SofaScore match rating of a mere 6.74, ranking him as Spurs' tenth-worst performer in the English top flight.
It has been a similar case over the Spaniard's 25 league fixtures this season, with the £68k-per-week full-back scoring two goals, registering three assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.2 key passes, 0.8 shots and completing 0.8 dribbles per game.
These returns have seen the player who Gary Neville claimed is "nowhere near good enough" for Antonio Conte's system average a SofaScore match rating of 6.92, ranking him as Tottenham's 12th-worst player in the Premier League in the current campaign.
Indeed, while these returns are far from disastrous for a typical full-back, with Conte deploying a system that utilises wing-backs, much more is expected going forwards from the players who operate in these positions - something that the Italian has reportedly stated as one of the main arguments for Tottenham moving Reguilon on this summer.
As such, considering all of the above, it would indeed appear a very wise move for Fabio Paratici to cash in on the defender while the interest is there, as it would very much seem as if Reguilon and Conte are far from a match made in heaven.
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