Spurs may have new chance to sign former target Keita Balde Diao

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Former Tottenham Hotspur target Keita Balde Diao could be on the move.

Tottenham Hotspur have missed out on a whole host of players in recent years. In fact, it’s remarkable just how many players have been strongly linked with Spurs, but ended up elsewhere.

Harry Maguire, James Maddison, Sadio Mane, Willian, so many more. With no signings made in almost 18 months, you can be sure there are many more to add to the list.

One name Tottenham missed out on in 2017 was attacker Keita Balde Diao, who had just hit 16 goals in 31 games for Lazio in Serie A, becoming one of the most feared attackers in Italian football.

In September 2018, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was quoted by Calciomercato as saying that he has been following Keita since his days in the Barcelona ranks, and actually wanted to sign him in 2017 – only for him to pick Monaco instead.

“Yes, it’s true. I’ve been following him since he grew up in Barcelona while I was at Espanyol,” said Pochettino. “He is a player with an interesting profile for us, I wanted him but then he chose Monaco. But he remains an excellent striker,” he added.

Keita hit eight goals last season before returning to Italy on loan with Inter Milan, where he has endured a stop-start season with four goals and two assists in 23 games, though only eight have been as a starter.

Now, Gazzetta Dello Sport report that Keita is unlikely to make his move permanent. That’s partly due to matters on the pitch, but also because of a practical joke played on him in the team hotel which ended up with him being injured. Yes, that’s really the bizarre story told.

Keita, 24, will now seemingly head back to Monaco, and that presents Spurs with a new chance to get Pochettino’s man. The Senegal international is rapid and has bags of untapped potential, which Pochettino would no doubt love to tap into.

Capable of playing on either flank, behind a striker or even up top, Keita has that Son Heung-min-style versatility in attack that Pochettino loves, and bringing in Keita would just give the Spurs attack a little more juice.

Pochettino has surely kept Keita on his radar judging by his comments earlier this season, and he now appears to have a golden chance to get him, if he’s still interested.