Tottenham Hotspur chose not to sign Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat in January – and he became a goalscoring hero on Monday night.
Tottenham were desperate to add another midfielder in January and eventually struck a deadline day deal to sign Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus.
Fabio Paratici and Antonio Conte had other options in mind though, and seemed to get far down the line with a move for Amrabat.
Tottenham had seemingly agreed a loan-to-buy deal for Amrabat, with the permanent option set at around £12.5million.
Amrabat was keen on the move according to Fabrizio Romano, but Tottenham ended up pulling a U-turn and signing Bentancur instead.
This is what Paratici loves to do; set up a number of deals at the same time before picking one and scrapping the rest.
Amrabat’s dream move to the Premier League was therefore taken away from him, and he is back to trying to nail down a starting role at Fiorentina.
On Monday night, Amrabat did indeed start against Spezia.
Krzysztof Piatek had put Fiorentina in front, only for Kevin Agudelo to bring Spezia level, picking Amrabat’s pocket in midfileld.
The Moroccan somewhat redeemed himself late on, firing a dramatic late winner from outside the box, driving low into the net.
From villain to hero, Amrabat’s dramatic late winner was exactly what he needed – but he is still being criticised.
Tuttomercatoweb rated Amrabat at just 6.5 out of 10, claiming that he still looks like a ‘fish out of water’ in this Fiorentina side.
Amrabat’s goal seemingly wasn’t enough to change people’s opinions, and it would be a surprise to see Tottenham rekindle their interest any time soon.
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