Borussia Monchengladbach will “do everything” to stop Matthias Ginter joining Spurs on a free transfer next year, sporting director Max Eberl has told Gladbach Live.
You’d have been forgiven for wondering whether Nuno Espirito Santo had gone on a spending spree at B&Q given how many cracks he papered over during the first few weeks of his Tottenham Hotspur tenure.
Three successive clean sheets were supposed to herald a return to the stout solidity that characterised the Mauricio Pochettino heydey in north London. Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier were doing a convincing impression of a prime-time Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen partnership.
But things move quickly in football. In the blink of an eye, the back line that looked a positive in August resembles a problem in September.
A 3-0 defeat to Thomas Tuchel’s outstanding Chelsea, while undesirable, was understandable.
The same scoreline against a Crystal Palace side still getting to grips with Patrick Vieira’s free-flowing style of football was far more difficult to defend.
So reports linking Tottenham with a move for Ginter, a World Cup winner and one of the finest centre-halves in the Bundesliga, were met with predictable anticipation.
Ginter is due to become a free agent in summer 2022, meaning a potentially elite-level stopper, one who would represent a sizeable upgrade on Dier in particular, may soon available for nothing.
But not if Eberl can help it.
Could Monchengladbach man Matthias Ginter be the solution to Spurs’ defensive woes?
“The goal is to bind Ginter and (Swiss midfielder Denis) Zakaria to the club for the long term,” says Gladbach’s sporting director of a man reported to be valued in the region of £20 million.
“We will do everything we can to make offers to the players that will then be accepted.
“The players (Ginter and Zakaria) know how valuable they are to us and how much they are valued at the club. We want to convince them Gladbach is also the right next step.”
Tottenham won’t have it easy, of course, with Calciomercato reporting Ginter is also a target for La Liga giants Real Madrid.
Interestingly, the Germany international has been compared to the man he may end up replacing at the Santiago Bernabeu – a certain Sergio Ramos.
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