OPINION
Tottenham could be making a huge mistake this summer by reportedly pulling the plug on their pursuit of Roma midfielder Nicolas Zaniolo.
According to Italian news outlet Calcio Mercato, Spurs would rather sign Giovani Lo Celso and Bruno Fernandes this summer, which means that they have shifted their attention away from Zaniolo, 19, and opened the door for Juventus to swoop in.
The Mirror reported last month that the North London club was plotting a £40million swoop to sign Zaniolo, but now it seems as though the attacking midfielder is more likely to stay put in Italy than head to the Premier League to join up with Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
It is a massive shame that Zaniolo won’t be a Tottenham player next season because he is a young, up-and-coming player who would have fit in well with what Pochettino wants in his players.
Last season, the midfielder scored six goals and supplied two assists in 36 appearances across all competitions for Roma and even earned his first two senior caps for Italy when he played in Euro 2020 qualifiers against Finland and Liechtenstein in March.
Zaniolo is an attacking midfielder and while he is probably more comfortable in a central role, he is also very good as a right-sided winger, a position from which he scored two goals against Porto in the Champions League knock-out stages last term.
While Pochettino is more likely to view his central midfield as the top area of his squad that needs bolstering this summer, it would not hurt Spurs to add some more quality on their right wing, and Zaniolo might be a younger and better replacement for the disappointing Erik Lamela.
According to stats by WhoScored, Zaniolo completed 81.3 per cent of his passes in Serie A last season and averaged 1.8 shots per goal and 1.5 successful dribbles in his appearances.
Lamela did have a better pass success percentage at 83.2, but he did average less shots at goal [1.5] and less successful dribbles [1.1] in his Premier League outings than what Zanilo managed in Italy.
Zaniolo is eight years younger than Lamela and while he would cost a lot, it’s reasonable to assume that his transfer value would only rise should he have headed to Tottenham this summer.
Unfortunately that now does not seem as though it’s going to happen and Spurs fans will have to kiss goodbye to the chances of seeing the dazzling young talent head to their new stadium.
Hopefully Daniel Levy and Pochettino do not come to regret this decision, because right now, it does seem as though they have made a mistake.