Tottenham Hotspur have been told that they should maintain their pursuit of a top January centre-back target when the summer transfer window comes around, as the heavily linked Premier League star is ‘better’ than Cristian Romero.
Spurs ended the winter window by adding defender, Kevin Danso from French outfit Lens over the weekend, after learning that Radu Dragusin’s knee injury is much worse than initially feared.
The Romania international suffered an ACL issue in the Europa League win over Elfsborg last week and, with Romero still not ready to return and the club taking no chances over giving Micky van de Ven too many minutes too soon, that sparked a rather frantic search for another addition on deadline day.
The day started out with Tottenham reportedly ending their pursuit of Chelsea’s Axel Disasi and then switching their focus to Crystal Palace and England star Marc Guehi.
Indeed, a significant £70million offer was placed for the Eagles star only for it to be completely rebuffed by their Premier League rivals, despite the fact that Guehi will be out of contract in the summer of 2026.
That rejection then saw a U-turn as Spurs pushed for Disasi again before changing their minds again and then failing with a £20m offer for highly-rated Burnley central defender Maxime Esteve.
But with reports that they are likely to renew their interest in Guehi in the summer, when that price point should drop as his contract starts to run down, Tottenham have been told that the Palace man would be a better option alongside Van de Ven than Romero.
Speaking about Spurs’ efforts to land Guehi on deadline day, former Tottenham midfielder and manager Tim Sherwood told Sky Sports News that the Englishman l is “one of the best centre-backs they can get” and that he is “better than (Cristian) Romero”.
Sherwood, speaking after hearing news of the Guehi offer, said: “If you’re going to try and get Marc Guehi now, you are going to pay over the odds. I think he is worth paying over the odds.
“The two best centre-backs Tottenham have at the club are Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven. And unless you can go and get somebody better than them two there’s no point of bringing a body in for the sake of it because at the end of February they’re both gonna be fit and come back into the side.
“With Marc Guehi he is better than Romero in my opinion but he’s not better than Van de Ven, they are completely different but he will be one of the best centre-backs they can get.”
Guehi chase not over yet
Snapping up Guehi in the winter window was always going to be a near-impossible task, given that the Palace skipper had not been pushing for an exit.
However, that stance is expected to change in the summer, when multiple clubs are expected to push for a top international defeender with just a year remaining on his contract.
Newcastle wanted Guehi over the summer and failed with late offers for the 24-year-old, while Liverpool have also had a firm interest in the past.
But, given Romero’s continued links to Real Madrid, there is a strong possibility that the Argentine heads to LaLiga come the end of this season – a move that would then create an opening for Tottenham to make their move for Guehi again.
Latest Tottenham news: German view on Tel deal emerges / Spurs signing exclusive
The view from Germany on the transfer that took Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich to Tottenham has emerged.
Tottenham pulled off one of the most eye-catching moves of the winter window on deadline day when signing 19-year-old striker, Mathys Tel, in a move that was on and off over the course of a week.
The end result was Spurs signed Tel on a six-month loan that contains an option to buy. Sources have diverged on whether the option is worth €55m or €60m, though what is confirmed is the option is in place.
Sky Germany later clarified Tottenham must get Tel’s approval before they can activate that clause in the summer. In other words, Tottenham cannot turn the loan deal permanent if Tel doesn’t want to stay.
But according to a fresh update from Sky Germany’s Uli Koehler, Tottenham will satisfy Tel’s demand for regular game-time and the deal will be a win-win for all involved.
Meanwhile, Tottenham have secured the signing of promising teenage striker Phoenix Offiah with his father and rugby legend, Martin Offiah, telling TEAMtalk exactly what Ange Postecoglou’s side can expect from the 15-year-old.