According to Football London, Tottenham Hotspur are tracking Lyon midfielder Lucas Paqueta ahead of the summer transfer window.
Paqueta reportedly wants to leave Lyon this summer, and he’s not short of suitors at the moment.
Newcastle have been linked with the Brazilian for the longest time now. He’s one of Bruno Guimaraes’ closest friends, and it was even reported a fortnight ago that the Magpies were ready to spend a club-record fee on the Lyon ace.
However, Tottenham are now seemingly keen on Paqueta, and that could complicate things for the Tyneside outfit.
Indeed, as rich as Newcastle are, Tottenham can offer things that United simply can’t at the moment.
Spurs are playing Champions League football next season, while, with all due respect to Eddie Howe, a move to north London would give Paqueta the chance to work with one of the very best coaches in the world – Antonio Conte.
It would be interesting to see how Paqueta would fit into the Spurs system at this point. As a more attacking midfielder, the Brazilian wouldn’t provide too much balance into the midfield, so it’s hard to imagine Conte being too fussed about pushing ahead with this deal.
Tottenham could probably do with an extra body in the middle of the park, but given that Conte plays a 3-4-3 system, they need a more all-action midfielder rather than a luxury player like Paqueta.
Whether or not Spurs make this move remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to watch how this develops, especially if they go head to head with Newcastle in a race for Paqueta’s signature.
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