OPINION
Tottenham may be in need of a new central midfielder this summer with doubts surrounding the future of Mousa Dembele as he enters the final year of his contract at the North London club.
The Belgium international has been a mainstay for Spurs during their success over the last few years, but it looks as though he could be on his way out with the Mirror reporting that Mauricio Pochettino is ready to cash in on him.
It was understood that Spurs had lined up replacements for Dembele, and one of them was Atalanta midfielder Bryan Cristante.
However it now looks as though Pochettino has dropped the ball in the hunt to sign Cristante as Dembele’s replacement as AS Roma have confirmed on their official English Twitter account that the Italy international is having a medical with them ahead of a summer switch.
Bryan Cristante undergoes his medical this morning at Villa Stuart… ?
#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/oRuIV7qwHG— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) June 7, 2018
The clinical midfielder, who scored 12 goals and supplied four assists in 47 appearances across all competitions for Atalanta last season, would have been a great alternative for Dembele, but now Spurs are about to miss out on their chance to sign him and will have to find another potential replacement.
Tottenham usually leave their transfer business until late in the window, which means that they can usually get away with paying less for certain deals.
However it also means they are likely to miss out on a lot of targets and Cristante could be the first of many to slip through Pochettino’s fingers in the coming months.