Spurs: Tottenham ahead of Chelsea for £52m forward, he dreams of a move

Tottenham Hotspur have a distinct advantage over London rivals Chelsea in the race to sign a £52 million forward, according to reports this week.

Who could Spurs sign in January?

The north Londoners made seven major signings over the summer transfer window, with the likes of Micky van de Ven and James Maddison in particular going on to dazzle under new manager Ange Postecoglou. The duo are now mainstays of Tottenham’s table-topping eleven. Van de Ven has formed an excellent partnership with Cristian Romero in central defence, while Maddison has scored two goals and assisted five others in the league alone.

Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle has raved over Maddison’s form this season, telling Premier League productions that the Englishman could be about to hit his peak in these next few years.

“I always rated him,” said Hoddle. “I felt Tottenham three years should have gone and got him with Harry (Kane) in the team. I always felt that he was ahead of players who were getting ahead of him in the England squad when he was at Leicester. With better players around him, and certainly in that England team, I think you would see the best and that’s coming out of him now. He has matured.”

However, reports in the last few weeks have claimed that Spurs have a few positions they wish to strengthen in the January window. Galatasaray defender Victor Nelsson, Juventus star Gleison Bremer, Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly and Bayer Leverkusen star Edmond Tapsoba are all reported defensive targets as Postecoglou eyes solid back up for van de Ven and Romero. Tottenham only have Eric Dier to fall back on, something which could cause trouble if either of the pair were to be sidelined.

Meanwhile, a possible exit for midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, as has been reported, could mean that Spurs move to sign a replacement with one of the candidates being Chelsea star Conor Gallagher.

Tottenham transfer news – Marcus Edwards

Another player who’s been linked with a move to north London is an ex-Spurs prodigy, with a report from Portugal providing the latest update on Marcus Edwards. Record, as translated and shared by Sport Witness, state both Tottenham and Chelsea are targeting the player who has a £52 million release clause, though his club, Sporting Lisbon, plan to raise it around £69m with a new contract.

The winger seems fairly keen on it, but he also has a “dream” of returning to England and playing his football in the Premier League. Both Spurs and Chelsea are possible landing spots, though Postecoglou’s side have a distinct advantage in that they are due 25% of any future transfer for Edwards – who Owen Hargreaves called “fantastic”. This is due to a sell-on clause in the Englishman’s contract, meaning they’d pay far less than Chelsea would for his signing.

Speaking to the media back in 2016, former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, now in charge of Chelsea, revealed his admiration for Edwards, saying:

“He is a very good prospect and, potentially, he can be a top player but we need to be patient and tell him that he has a lot of talent, enough talent to be a top player, a great player, but now it’s how he builds his future – that’s very important.”