Tottenham have been in touch with the family of Boca Juniors enforcer Wilmar Barrios, according to Marca Colombia.
The South American news outlet claims on their website that Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is interested in signing up Barrios, 24, this summer and there have been “informal calls” to the midfielders’ relatives.
Sky Sports Italy journalist Gianluca di Marzio has previously reported that Tottenham have made an offer to Barrios to join up with his Colombia team-mate Davinson Sanchez in North London.
And according to the Independent, there is a £14.5million release clause in Barrios’ deal at Boca Juniors, that can be activated this summer.
Good move for Tottenham?
Barrios grabbed a lot of headlines at the World Cup in his performances for Colombia.
In the group stages it was all for good reasons as he showed a great fighting spirit, never-ending work-rate and a good ability to win the ball back in the deeper-lying midfield areas.
However against England in the round of 16, Barrios just showed that he is a bit of a thug, headbutting Jordan Henderson and somehow avoiding a red card.
He would be a horrible player to play against, and that is definitely why Pochettino should look into snapping up the Boca Juniors star this summer.
This is Futbol rating 8/10
Likely to happen?
Tottenham have reportedly made an offer to Barrios and he has a reasonable release clause, so it’s hard to see a reason why this move would not happen unless the player himself is not keen on swapping Buenos Aires for London.
Pochettino should be able to lure a lot of South American players to Spurs if he wished and Barrios has clearly caught his eye in recent weeks.
However there’s just something about this that still suggests that nothing will happen and the Colombia international will stay put at La Bombonera.
This is Futbol rating 5/10