Tottenham Hotspur may make another move to sign Atalanta midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi in January.
That is according to journalist Dean Jones, who was speaking to GiveMeSport about Spurs’ potential transfer business in the winter transfer window following the closure of the summer market last week.
According to reports in Italy, Antonio Conte’s side were primed to make a move for Malinovskyi towards the end of the window, with a fee of £15m being suggested as enough to get the 29-year-old out of the Bergamo club.
However, it then emerged that Atalanta had reportedly increased their asking price to £39m, whilst Spurs were more interested in a loan-to-buy deal for the midfielder.
Jones believes that there’s a chance a move for the 49-time Ukraine international could still be alive in January, with Spurs looking to add more numbers to their midfield this season.
He said: “Atalanta became quite stubborn over this one.
“Spurs, they had been looking into a loan deal for this, but they gave up on the idea because Atalanta just weren’t doing it and it clearly wasn’t going to happen.
“But that situation could easily change, so it’s one to keep an eye on for January.”
TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments…
We believe that Spurs could easily resurrect a deal for the £23k-per-week midfielder in January, as Atalanta may think this is the last chance they have of making a decent transfer fee from the Ukrainian, with the midfielder approaching his 30s.
Malinovskyi, who has previously been hailed as “stunning”, has been an impressive addition for Atalanta since his arrival in 2019, having scored 30 goals and provided 27 assists in 133 appearances for the Serie A club, according to Transfermarkt.
Therefore, based on Jones’ claim, we believe that a move for the former Genk man is definitely something that is on the cards for Spurs in January, and the north London side may be able to negotiate a reasonable price for the Atalanta star.