Tottenham pursue first January transfer for Ange Postecoglou as three deals eyed

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Tottenham are stepping up shock interest in Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.

Molineux chiefs are open to offers for their £10million summer signing, who has failed to make an impression in the Black Country this season and remains second in command to Jose Sa.

Spurs No.1 Guglielmo Vicario is expected to be sidelined until at least the end of this month - at the earliest - after he was forced to undergo surgery on a fractured foot sustained in the 4-0 win at Man City in November.

Fraser Forster has since stepped in to fill the void of the Italian but Ange Postecoglou and the Tottenham hierarchy believe the club have to ponder strengthening their options between the sticks as the gruelling wait for Vicario's return has proven painful.

Furthermore, the 35-year-old is also out of contract at the end of the season when he is expected to depart north London. Crucially, Johnstone is also a homegrown player which is of added interest to Spurs.

The 31-year-old England international moved to Wolves from Crystal Palace in August under the premise he would be the club's first-choice goalkeeper under Gary O'Neil.

He had previously lost his starting spot to Dean Henderson at Selhurst Park and agitated for a summer move but has since proven unconvincing in his quest to leapfrog Sa following a string of shaky displays. Whether he would accept a move to Spurs knowing he would likely be no more than a No.2 remains to be seen.

Initially, Postecoglou had indicated he was prepared to show faith in Forster until Vicario was given the green-light to return to action but the veteran's sloppy distribution has only invited more pressure where Tottenham's injury-ravaged backline is concerned.

Spurs are also thought to have a number of other goalkeepers on their radar including Burnley's James Trafford but the Clarets man is unlikely to come cheap given he has also attracted admirers at Newcastle.

Tottenham are also open to strengthening in defence - at centre-back and left-back - and would also be keen to sign a new forward should the opportunity present itself.

Meanwhile, Wolves retain interest in Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, who could be targeted once again if Johnstone was to leave Vitor Pereira's relegation-battlers.

Wolves made an approach for the France U21 international last summer but their advances were swiftly shot down. Restes has also been scouted by other Premier League clubs and sides from across Europe. Only Barcelona duo Pau Cubarsi and Lamine Yamal managed more minutes than Restes (2861) in Europe's top-five leagues in the first half of the season.

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