Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Third-Place Playoff - Croatia v Morocco - Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar - December 17, 2022 Morocco's Sofyan Amrabat during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Peter Cziborra
Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly in ‘pole position’ to sign Fiorentina and Morocco central midfielder Sofyan Amrabat in the January transfer window.
The Lowdown: World Cup star
Amrabat was one of the standout players in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, having been named in The Guardian‘s team of the tournament, described as the ‘driving force’ of the Morocco team that reached the semi-finals.
The Guardian added that Amrabat ‘never stopped running, never stopped pushing and produced the tackle of the tournament on Kylian Mbappe’, who finished as the tournament’s Golden Boot winner with eight goals for France.
The Latest: Tottenham in ‘pole position’
As per Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), Spurs are in ‘pole position’ to sign Amrabat for Antonio Conte in January, though Liverpool are also in the mix.
They add that the North London club are ‘chasing’ the 26-year-old, and Fiorentina could sell him for around €45m (£40m).
The Verdict: Get it done?
Off the back of such an impressive World Cup, Amrabat is sure to attract plenty of attention from some of Europe’s top clubs in January, and so the Lilywhites need to make sure that they are in first for his signature.
Hailed as a ‘crazy player‘ by director of Tuttosport Guido Vaciago, Amrabat won more possessions than any other player in Qatar, and at club level, he ranks in the top 3% for progressive passes, 5% for pass completion, 11% for blocks and 13% for passes completed of all his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues over the past year (FBRef).
Nonetheless, at 26 years of age, Tottenham would be signing a player about to enter his prime, and priced at £40m, that could turn out to be a bargain in the future.
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