Transfer News: Tottenham to battle Arsenal for Barcelona ace Riqui Puig
According to transfer news from Tribal Football, Tottenham Hotspur are set to fight it out with local rivals Arsenal for the signing of Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig in the summer window.
Puig is a product of Barcelona’s famed La Masia youth academy. Having been with the club since 2014, the 21-year-old grew through the ranks and made his first-team breakthrough in the 2018 but hasn’t been able to kick on as expected.
Despite being heralded as the next big thing to come out of the Catalans’ academy ranks, Riqui Puig hasn’t been able to nail down a starting berth at Camp Nou. Instead, this season has seen the midfielder fall behind fellow youngsters Pedri and Ilaix Moriba in the pecking order of things under manager Ronald Koeman.
With Barcelona mired in financial problems, they are looking to clear out some players this summer and Puig is set to become one of the stars who will be shown the doors, as per the report, And, this development has alerted Tottenham as well as Arsenal, with both teams now set to vie for the Spaniard’s signing in the summer.
Tottenham, this season, have lacked the ideal partner for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Moussa Sissoko, for all his industry, offers little quality on the ball and is not getting any younger. Harry Winks, on the other hand, has been in and out of the side and often tends to slow the game down when in possession.
As for Tanguy Ndombele, the Frenchman seems better suited to playing higher up the pitch where he does not have responsibilities to track back and work off the ball.
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So, signing someone like Puig, who provides quality ball-progression from the centre, has the vision and creativity, along with his high-pressing intensity, could be the way to go about things for us. However, Puig is also attracting transfer interest from Juventus and Inter Milan, apart from Tottenham and Arsenal. So, a deal may prove tricky to complete.
