Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has never been a huge fan of January transfer windows. As a result, Spurs are not expected to be hugely active this January. Yet, this has not prevented the club from being linked with a couple of important players to strengthen the team. Atletico Madrid midfielder Nicolas Gaitan has emerged as one of the latest targets – as per the reports from Evening Standard. The 28-year-old has had a difficult 2016-17 season. He has featured in only nine league matches with only three of them coming from the start.
Even though he has scored two goals, both of them came in the 7-1 drubbing of Granada. Gaitan is not a first-team regular at the club and he is reportedly seeking a move away from the Vicente Calderon in order to get regular first-team football. The Argentine has a contract with Atletico until the summer of 2020. As a result, the Spanish club will not be in a hurry to sell the player nor extend his contract. It remains to be seen if manager Diego Simeone would be interested in selling a player in January even though he is not a first-team regular.
However, Sreports from Spain suggest that Gaitan is keen on the move. They claim that the winger prefers a move to Premier League and join Spurs as he believes they are one of the title chasing clubs in the league.
Atletico are going through a difficult campaign and the club in danger of missing out on the Champions League next season. From being title challengers only a few years ago, they have now slipped from the lofty heights. Amidst several rumours about the future of manager Simeone, the club are fourth in the table with four points separating them from Barcelona.
Capable of playing either on the left or right side of the midfield, Gaitan will provide a lot of flexibility to the manager. Tottenham appears to be interested in Gaitan at a time when there is a lot of speculation on the future of Erik Lamela. The Argentine was recently spotted in the Italian capital Rome, and it has started suggestions that he may be on the verge of a return to Roma. Even though Pochettino has dismissed those rumours, the latest links with Gaitan point out to the existence of some truth in those rumours.
After spending six seasons with Benfica, Gaitan made the move to Atletico only in the summer for around €30 million. Yet, manager Simeone’s reluctance to play the midfielder much has been subjected to a lot of debate. The last time Gaitan completed 90 minutes of action in the league was back in the month of September. After having patiently waited for a move from the Estadio da Luz, Gaitan would certainly be disappointed at the way his Atletico Madrid career is shaping up. At 28 years of age, the player certainly does not have a lot of time left at the peak.
