According to the Express, Leonardo Spinazzola has emerged as a transfer target for Tottenham – he is also wanted by Chelsea.
What’s the story?
Well, after some phenomenal performances for Italy at EURO 2020, Spinazzola has played his way into Tottenham’s thinking.
The 28-year-old was named Man of the Match after Italy beat Turkey 3-0 in the opening game of the tournament in Rome.
Spinazzola caught the eye with his frequent desire to join the attack.
It was his shot which led to Ciro Immobile scoring Italy’s second goal.
In 39 appearances for Roma last season, the 16-cap Italy international scored two goals and provided eight assists from wing-back.
For a defender to record ten goal involvements is simply brilliant.
Interestingly, Tottenham were keen to sign Spinazzola four years ago.
More recently, he was also wanted by Newcastle.
The threat from Chelsea could be quite significant for Tottenham, in our view.
The Blues have just won the Champions League, and Spinazzola would fit Thomas Tuchel’s wing-back system perfectly.
Spinazzola at wing-back is key
Whoever lands the Italian has to adopt a wing-back system.
Signing Spinazzola, only to play him in a flat back four, hugely limits his best qualities.
The Foligno-born defender – who has been compared to the great Gianluca Zambrotta – has an incredible engine.
Spinazzola told Roma’s official website that he used to be a winger, who was then converted into a full-back like Zambrotta.
In that respect, the €29.5 million man (£25.3 million) naturally has tendencies to fly forward.
As a result, playing him in a flat back four would either hinder his abilities, or leave the rest of the backline vulnerable if he does bomb forward.
If Daniel Levy is planning to hire a manager who doesn’t adopt a wing-back system, Tottenham should forget about signing Spinazzola.
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