Corentin Tolisso has decided against extending his contract at Bayern Munich with Fabio Paratici holding talks regarding a switch to Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur, as reported by Calciomercato.
12 months ago, the World Cup winner appeared to have turned his ailing Bayern career around, capping a superb start to the 2020/21 season with an epic volley of Paul Scholes proportions during a 4-0 Champions League thrashing of Atletico Madrid.
“He’s in good form. Against Atletico, he played brilliantly. It’s just important that Coco enjoys football and he’s showing it now again,” manager Hansi Flick said at the time, hailing Tolisso’s immediate impact following another injury-enforced lay-off.
“You can tell during training that a burden has fallen from him. He is very strong. He has quality.”
One year on, that ‘burden’ appears to have returned with a vengeance.
A man whose Bayern career has been littered with fitness problems has once again found himself glued to the treatment table, restricted to just 38 minutes of Bundesliga football due to a troublesome calf issue.
Even when he does return to full fitness, forcing his way back into a star-studded central midfield now containing Marcel Sabitzer as well as Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Jamal Musiala may be all-but impossible.
A fresh start and a clean break may be for the best, then, with Tolisso opting against extending a contract that is due to expire in 2022.
Will Levy pay to bring Tolisso to Tottenham?
According to Calciomercato, Paratici attempted to lure the former Lyon play-maker to Juventus last summer and has now renewed acquaintances with Tolisso’s representatives, although there is still a long way to go before an agreement can be reached with Tottenham Hotspur.
Tolisso is demanding £100,000-a-week at his next club – a wage that neither Inter Milan nor Jose Mourinho’s Roma are capable of offering.
Whether the famously scrupulous Daniel Levy is willing to fork out over £5 million a year to a man who has missed 84 matches due to a variety of injuries since 2017 remains to be seen.
But we would imagine that Paratici may have some convincing to do.
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