Tottenham Hotspur wanted Barcelona’s Riqui Puig over the summer.
Tottenham Hotspur failed to bring in any new signings over the summer, and fans will remember a host of names from the summer window as targets who slipped through Mauricio Pochettino’s net.
Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish is the main name, but fans will also recall Wilmar Barrios and Tanguy Ndombele being strongly linked with Spurs, but no deals went through.
Another name Spurs were interested in was that of Riqui Puig, the Barcelona teenager who so very nearly left the Catalan giants for a move to North London over the summer.
As reported by SPORT over the summer, Spurs were very close to signing Puig, but he decided to sign a new deal with Barca at the last minute, leaving Tottenham frustrated at missing out.
Puig, 19, has been touted as the future of Barcelona’s midfield, with many anointing him as the natural heir to Xavi and Andres Iniesta – even with only Barcelona B appearances to his name.
After one assist in nine games this season, the diminutive midfielder is developing in the third tier of Spanish football, and it seems that a first-team debut may be imminent.
Marca report that Puig is in the Barcelona first team squad for tonight’s game against Cultural Leonesa in the Cope del Rey, alongside Lazar Cerevic, Inaki Pena, Chumi, Jorge Cuena and Juan Miranda.
Puig may subsequently make his bow tonight as a substitute, though some may still wonder whether he would be closer to regular first-team football had he traded Barcelona for Spurs this past summer.
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