Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly increased their transfer interest in Sporting CP midfielder Manuel Ugarte ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window.
This season has seen just six clubs concede more goals in the Premier League season than the Lilywhites (40), which has seemingly now led to the north London club setting their sights on bringing in a player that could strengthen their side in a defensive sense.
According to a recent report from Portuguese media outlet Record (via Sport Witness), Spurs have been interested in Ugarte since they played Sporting in the Champions League group stage earlier this season, but have seen their interest increase after watching him in action recently.
The report also adds that fellow Premier League club Newcastle United and some clubs in Spain also have their eyes on the midfielder.
After spending a few months with Portuguese club Famalicao, the 21-year-old joined Sporting during the 2021 summer transfer window.
Since then, the midfielder has made 75 appearances across all competitions for his current side, with 37 of those coming throughout this season.
Across his 22 league appearances in this campaign, Ugarte has picked up the highest average of tackles (3.9) and interceptions per game (1.6) at Sporting.
Would you like to see Spurs sign Manuel Ugarte?
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The youngster recently showed off his defensive skills in north London as he made more tackles (8) than any other Sporting player in their second-leg Europa League round-of-16 victory over Arsenal.
This backs up why talent scout Jacek Kulig described Ugarte as an “accurate and tenacious tackler” on Twitter among other things.
Bearing in mind how Spurs have made fewer tackles in the midfield third of the pitch (145) than any other team in the Premier League this season, this shows how much they could do with someone like the Sporting star in their squad to make them stronger in that area.
Moving forward, we feel that the north London club should do all they can to land the Uruguayan’s signature this summer.