A holding midfielder is near the top of Tottenham’s summer shopping list and all signs so far have been pointing towards Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
As Sky Sports details, the Southampton skipper has been earmarked as a target since January, and I’ve written before about how I feel the Dane, unglamorous yet effective, could be the right man to bring us some balance in the centre of the park alongside the likes of Lo Celso and Ndombele.
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But now Transfer20 have thrown a new name into the mix, reporting that Spurs are one of five Premier League clubs after William Carvalho. Wolves, West Ham and Leicester are named as other potential suitors.
The 28-year-old was endlessly linked with a move to England during his Sporting Lisbon days but ended up at Real Betis in the summer of 2018. He started well in La Liga, making 30 appearances in his first season, playing alongside the boy Lo Celso no less, but his second year with Betis has been hampered by an injury that sidelined him from October to February.
The source here is questionable, but the target may actually be plausible.
Carvalho is a 59-times capped Portugal international so he will be well known to Jose Mourinho, and Transfer20 claim the Spurs boss is a big fan of his compatriot, which is believable as he possesses a lot of ‘Mourinho qualities’.
A rangy runner with a good passing range and an imposing 6ft 2in frame, Carvalho was compared to Patrick Vieira by The Guardian in 2014.
As well as ticking Jose’s boxes, he could tick Daniel Levy’s as he is said to be available for €30m (£26.18m) which is fairly affordable, even in this market.
Would you prefer Hojbjerg or Carvalho as our new DM?
“Carvalho was compared to Viera in 2014”.
Edwards was compared to Messi about the same time.
Some Southampton fans think they could sign someone better if Hojbjerg left, probably similar to how I feel about Winks. Hojbjerg’s ball retention is not brilliant and for me that is a big issue, we need players who can keep the ball. Why would we want a player the Saints fans are not that bothered about? Simples, he’ll be cheap, he is Premier League ready, we wouldn’t have to wait 18 months for an overseas signing to settle in, Levy does not tend to sign top draw players from any League and he’s better than Winks in my opinion. Not seen enough of Carvalho to make an informed judgement and I’m not looking on YouTube.