Real Madrid striker Borja Mayoral has long been admired by Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane hardly dampened speculation linking the La Liga giants with a staggering move for Tottenham Hotspur talisman Harry Kane prior to the Champions League clash at the Bernabau last week.
As reported by the BBC, Zidane admitted that Kane had evolved into the ‘complete player’. Though if the Real Madrid boss is smitten with a Spurs forward, it appears that his Tottenham counterpart Mauricio Pochettino is also glancing longingly at a player on the La Liga giants’ books.
AS report that young striker Borja Mayoral has been a target for Pochettino for some time. The Argentine even tried to sign the 20-year-old before he made an ill-fated loan move to Bundesliga strugglers Wolfsburg in the summer of 2015.
And the report adds that Pochettino made another approach for Mayoral before the current campaign. Considering that Real sold both Alvaro Morata and Mariano Diaz to Chelsea and Lyon respectively, they were never likely to let Mayoral depart in the same summer.
Third time lucky?
Though the Spain Under-21 international could perhaps benefit from departing the Santiago Bernabau. Despite being one of just two natural centre-forwards on Real’s books, Mayoral has played just 110 minutes of La Liga football this season.
Scoring one and setting up another in his only start in last month’s 3-1 win at Real Sociedad, however, there’s little doubt that Mayoral could benefit from a sustained run of first-team football.
Though with Kane showing no desire to leave North London any time soon, it appears that Mayoral’s first-team prospects wouldn’t necessarily have been boosted by swapping Real for Spurs in the summer.
It remains to be seen, however, if Pochettino tries to make it third time lucky in January. Can Spurs turn the tables on Real Madrid after losing Gareth Bale and Luka Modric to the lure of the Bernabau?
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