Tottenham Hotspur striker Fernando Llorente will reportedly leave the club this summer.
According to the London Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur are set to offload striker Fernando Llorente at the end of the season, less than a year after signing him.
Spurs snapped up Llorente from Swansea City back on deadline day in August 2016, with Mauricio Pochettino swooping to land the Spaniard after his 15-goal campaign last season.
The target man was supposed to take some pressure off Harry Kane in the Spurs attack, but he has hit just five goals in 28 games in all competitions, and has started just one Premier League game for Tottenham.
Llorente was an unused substitute against Bournemouth despite the fact that Kane was taken off injured in the first half, seemingly signalling his role under Pochettino – and it’s now claimed that he will be leaving this summer.
Teams around Europe may still be keen on the 32-year-old striker, and as reported by BBC Sport, Chelsea held talks about signing Llorente from Spurs, but talks fell apart when Michy Batshuayi wouldn’t join Tottenham.
Chelsea had been pursuing Llorente throughout Antonio Conte’s reign as manager, but consistently missed out on his signature, and the ship may have sailed on a move to Stamford Bridge for the Spurs veteran.
Conte – who worked with Llorente at Juventus – is expected to leave Chelsea this summer after a tumultuous second season in the job, and with the Italian driving any interest in Llorente, his expected exit means Chelsea are unlikely to pursue Llorente again.
Add in that Chelsea ended up signing another experienced target man in January in Olivier Giroud, and there appears to be no reason for Chelsea to want Llorente anymore – and that leaves Spurs hoping to find another buyer this summer.
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