Tottenham supporters have been drowning their sorrows in the Transfer Tavern this week after seeing their side suffer a fourth Premier League defeat at the hands of Leicester City on Tuesday night, thus falling a mammoth 16 points adrift of leaders Manchester City.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men may well have excelled on the European stage so far this term, having won their Champions League group which also included Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, but they have recently struggled on the domestic scene. A 1-1 draw at home to West Brom at the weekend was far from convincing, and they were unable to get back to winning ways on Tuesday night either as goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez set Claude Puel’s Leicester on their way to all three points, with Harry Kane’s second half strike not enough to spark a comeback from Pochettino’s side.
Thus, there have been many despondent Spurs supporters in the Tavern in recent days, and the bad news keeps coming as a recent report from Sportske Novosti (via TEAMtalk) suggests that the North London outfit failed with a bid to land Real Madrid’s Mateo Kovacic during the summer.
The 23-year-old made the move to the Bernabeu back in 2015 after impressing at Italian giants Inter Milan, and he has since gone on to make 79 appearances for Zinedine Zidane’s side, although injury has restricted him to just six games so far this term.
And the Croatia international attracted much interest over the summer, and Real’s chief executive Jose Angel Sanchez has confirmed that Tottenham were one side to fail with a bid for the midfielder during the close season.
He said: ‘Kovacic is not for sale, we will never sell him.
‘If there are any offers for him in January, we will reject them. Last summer there were a lot of offers and questions about him.
‘Juventus and AC Milan didn’t send offers, but Inter must have sent one. There was one from England, it was Tottenham.’
And these comments will do little to improve the mood among our resident Spurs fans, with their side likely having to turn their attentions to other transfer targets ahead of the January window.
Landlord’s verdict: There was much speculation over the summer regarding who Mauricio Pochettino was looking to sign to bolster his Tottenham squad, with four new players eventually arriving at the North London outfit.
However, Spurs did not improve their midfield ranks, yet it doesn’t appear to be through the lack of trying as reports suggest that the club failed with a bid for Real Madrid’s Mateo Kovacic during the close season.
The 23-year-old hasn’t always been a regular at the Bernabeu but has certainly proven his worth when called upon, so much so that Spurs weren’t the only side expressing an interest over the summer, with Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus also keen.
And with Real’s chief executive suggesting that he’s not for sale in January either, it doesn’t look like Pochettino will have any luck if he were to reignite his interest in the Croatian midfielder.
Tottenham fans… what do you make of the news? Let us know!
