West Ham have already made three signings and now reportedly want a player linked with Spurs.
Tottenham Hotspur’s main transfer strategy this summer has been to bring a new central midfielder to north London, but rivals West Ham United could be about to nab one of Mauricio Pochettino’s targets.
Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic has long been linked with a move to Spurs, with Football London claiming it would cost £44million to sign the Croatian midfielder.
Now, West Ham are reportedly said to be interested in signing the 24-year-old Real playmaker, which sees Manuel Pellegrini look to raid his old side and beat Spurs to the 45-cap’s signature.
West Ham need a new playmaker after Manuel Lanzini suffered a long-term knee injury just before the World Cup while on international duty with Argentina.
Kovacic is out of favour at Real, with 15 of his 36 league and cup appearances last season coming from the substitute’s bench. His national teammate Luka Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos have kept him out of the side.
But with Spurs desperately in need to replace Mousa Dembele who continues to be linked with Inter Milan, and Pochettino remaining interested in Kovacic for quite some time – surely they cannot let West Ham sign the star.
For both clubs, landing Kovacic for £44million would be a club-record fee, but Spurs’ participation in the Champions League is likely to give the north Londoners the best chance of completing a deal.
Pochettino will have the draw of Champions League football and a shot at the title, and he must do everything within his power to lure Kovacic to north London over their bitter enemies West Ham.
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