Ex-Arsenal figure could beat Tottenham to £17m ace Conte has chased for weeks

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Villarreal are reportedly now leading the race to sign Gerard Deulofeu, a player Tottenham have been chasing to sign for the past few weeks.

According to CalcioMercato via GSFN, Unai Emery’s side are the favourites to sign the former Watford and Everton star, with this update coming just a few days after reports suggested that Deulofeu was set on a move to Serie A side Napoli, with Udinese valuing their star attacker at €20m (£17m).

Deulofeu enjoyed a fantastic year in Italy last season with the 28-year-old bagging 13 goals and five assists, with the Spaniard’s performances catching the eyes of many top sides around Europe, namely Tottenham, who reportedly want to bring the forward back to the Premier League for a fourth spell.

The versatile attacker enjoyed two spells at Everton before being on Watford’s books for three years, with Deulofeu then heading to Udinese in 2021 where the forward has arguably enjoyed the best football of his career as the former FC Barcelona talent has adapted his style to play as a striker.

Indeed, this change has led to many clubs eyeing a move for Deulofeu, with Villarreal now such club interested in signing the Udinese star, with Emery keen to improve his attacking options this summer and potentially replace Arnaut Danjuma, who was close to a move to West Ham in the window.

With Tottenham already signing Richrlison, missing out on Deulofeu is hardly a big deal for Antonio Conte’s side, yet the forward signing for Villarreal would sting for the north London side given that former Arsenal manager Emery is the club’s current head coach.

Tottenham will be infuriated if Villarreal sign Deulofeu

Deulofeu has the potential to become a superstar on the continent if he signs for the right club this summer, and Villarreal could well be that side given their track record of impressive moves in the past two seasons under Emery, something that will annoy Tottenham to no end.

After all, Deulofeu has seemingly been on Tottenham’s radar for some weeks, and whilst losing out on the attacker is hardly the end of the world, seeing him sign for Villarreal, of all clubs, will hurt the north London side given that Emery will probably be a brilliant manager for the former Watford talisman.