Tottenham Hotspur need defensive reinforcements this summer, but could end up missing out on a top target.
Sky Sports claimed earlier this month that Spurs have already made contact over a deal to bring Jerome Boateng to North London.
Boateng is out of contract at Bayern Munich this summer, meaning Spurs are free to talk to him now over a potential free transfer.
On the one hand, Boateng is a real winner. Nine league titles, two Champions Leagues, the World Cup… he’s won all the big prizes in recent times, and Spurs could do with that mentality.
On the other, Boateng is 33 in September and Spurs shouldn’t be committing big wages to players approaching the latter stages of their careers.
It now looks like Spurs could miss out though, as France Football report that Monaco are pushing to get a deal done with Boateng.
Niko Kovac wants more experience in his back line, and wants to try and convince Boateng to make the move to the Ligue 1 side.
Kovac coached Boateng at Bayern and has close ties to brother Kevin-Prince Boateng, having managed him at Eintracht Frankfurt.
The man leading the talks in such a move would be sporting director Paul Mitchell, who was a key part of Tottenham’s recruitment under Mauricio Pochettino before leaving for RB Leipzig.
Tottenham’s recruitment hasn’t been impressive since Mitchell left, and he could now come back to haunt Spurs by hijacking their Boateng move.
That wouldn’t exactly be the ideal start to the window for Spurs, but they will have other targets in mind too, such as Jannik Vestergaard and Joachim Andersen just in case Boateng does head to Monaco.
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