OPINION
Tottenham are reportedly interested in luring Southampton reserve goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga to north London as Mauricio Pochettino eyes a reunion with the Argentinian.
ESPN claim Spurs are looking to sign the 25-year-old goalkeeper after losing Spanish stopper Pau Lopez, who returned to parent club Espanyol after a season-long loan with the Premier League giants.
It is believed that Pochettino wants to sign the goalkeeper, with whom he worked with at Southampton, to provide cover for Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm in between the sticks ahead of a busy 2017-18 season.
Spurs are expected to use the whole depths of their squad in the upcoming campaign, as they look to go one better and qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League after failing miserably last season.
Gazzaniga spent last season on loan with Spanish second division side Rayo Vallecano, where he made 34 appearances in all competitions and kept 12 clean sheets as they finished in a safe 12th place.
Here, This Is Futbol analyses if signing Gazzaniga is a good move for Spurs, and whether the move seems to be likely.
Good move for Tottenham?
The move is an interesting one. With a busy campaign for Spurs on the horizon, it is a necessity that the club has three first-team goalkeepers available to Pochettino.
However, it is without doubt that captain Hugo Lloris will remain first choice for the foreseeable future, even if his form deteriorates considerably.
It seems then, that a move will only materialise if Gazzaniga is happy to sit on the sidelines and act as a third-choice goalkeeper for the north London outfit.
For Tottenham, the move makes sense even if Gazzaniga’s game time is in question at the Wembley Stadium, and only likely to appear between the sticks if Spurs suffer a major goalkeeping crisis.
This Is Futbol rating: 6/10.
Likely to happen?
Gazzaniga worked with Pochettino for only a year and a half, after the former Espanyol manager joined the Saints in January 2013 and left ahead of the 2014-15 season to join Tottenham.
However, the two are from the same area of Argentina in a town called Murphy and have plenty in common. That would suggest a move is likely to occur.
But with Gazzaniga seemingly keen to play after requesting a loan and being sent to Spain to be Vallecano’s number one for a season, it remains to be seen if the former Valencia youth player will want to sit on the sidelines.
Spurs must do they all can, in terms of convincing and wage packet, to lure Gazzaniga to north London but it is purely down to the goalkeepers’ need of first-team football.
This Is Futbol rating: 7/10.