Tottenham Hotspur have been tipped to sign Youcef Atal this summer but, speaking to Nice Matin, Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere has made it clear that the Ligue 1 star is going nowhere.
With the French Football season brought to a premature conclusion in April, some might have wondered whether an exciting and versatile full-back had played his final game at the Allianz Riviera.
BILD reported in March that Jose Mourinho was keen to bring Atal to North London – and with good reason.
Spurs are a little short of depth in both full-back positions. And, given that the two-footed Atal is equally comfortable on the left or the right, the phrase ‘two birds with one stone’ comes to mind.
But Nice will not be bullied into selling their star players this summer.
They were taken over by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe last year and, as you might expect, Nice are not exactly short of cash these days.
“We want to keep him – and we will keep him,” president Rivere said when asked if Atal would be sold.
Tottenham, then, will have to look elsewhere.
But with Mourinho himself admitting that big-money signings will be in short supply at Spurs this summer, buying a top-class full-back on the cheap could prove to be an impossible task.
Perhaps this is why Tottenham have turned their attention to Thomas Meunier – the PSG star and Belgium international who will be available on a free from July (Telegraph).
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