Tottenham Make Contact With Atletico Madrid To Sign Winger, But Diego Simeone Intends To keep The Spurs And Manchester United Target

According to London Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur may need to source other wingers as Atletico Madrid are not willing to entertain any offers for Nicolas Gaitan.

The Argentinean has been a familiar face being linked with a move to the Premier League whenever the transfer window unfolds. Manchester United were previously in the running and back in 2014, he was on the radar of the north London club too, according to The Express.

The 28-year-old made most of his name at Benfica by notching 25 goals out of 152 appearances. However, since moving to Spain in the summer, he has been struggling to replicate the form that impressed his new boss Diego Simeone. Therefore, the winger is facing a challenge to burst into the first team on regular basis. The Boca Junior academy graduate has only featured in six matches out of 14 matches this campaign and found the back of the net thrice.

Spurs were hoping to take advantage of his current situation and made an approach to the Spanish outfit to check on his availability. Surprisingly, Simeone is keen to keep hold of him. They could have easily offloaded the attacker for the similar £22 million fee that they bought him for.

The Lilywhites have collected 5 victories on the trot and currently sit 3^rd in England’s top flight. Besides that, they have found their scoring touch once again, especially with Harry Kane and Dele Alli scoring on all cylinders.

And the biggest question is why does Mauricio Pochettino see a struggling winger as a trump card to help him win the league for the first time?

On the papers, his goal returns are pretty modest yet on the pitch, he offers more than that. He is the sort of player who will drop deep whenever the opponents have the possession, nick the ball back and recycle it into a threat straight away. Clearly, an attribute that is a big uptick for the Spurs head coach. Back in summer, Pochettino did express that his side lack pace in the final third and reports did emerge that Crystal Palace’s Zaha was identified as his solution but talks have waned away since the winger joined Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Besides that, Erik Lamela continues to receive treatment after picking up a hip injury. Harking back to Harry Kane’s recent absence due to injury, they huffed and puffed as a unit to create chances up front and often lacked experience. Case in point, Chelsea’s squad depth was the ideal reason for their winning streak as they were habitually missing a number of key players due to injury and suspension.

Nicolas Gaitan isn’t a need at the moment for the north London club and not securing his service won’t be a big blow.