Tottenham might raid the Turkish market in January for a highly-rated defender.
Tottenham Hotspur’s summer transfer business may have made the fans happy, but they are yet to show results on the pitch. The first month of the Premier League season has shown that there are holes in this Spurs squad, both in defence and attack.
In the fifth league game of the season, Roberto De Zerbi’s men finally ended their goal drought. They netted two goals, but it came in a losing cause against Aston Villa at home. After keeping back-to-back clean sheets in the draws with Nottingham Forest and Everton, Tottenham conceded three goals to an Aston Villa side equally struggling for confidence and form.
The centre-back pairing of Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke endured a torrid afternoon against Nicolas Jackson. The Senegalese striker proved a real handful for Van de Ven and Van Hecke and took his goal beautifully in the second half to sink Spurs.
Tottenham keeping close tabs on Besiktas centre-back
Despite making additions to their defensive unit in the summer, it may appear that the North Londoners are further looking to bolster this area of the pitch. According to Turkish outlet Fanatik on X, Tottenham are ‘closely following’ Besiktas centre-back Emirhan Topcu.
Emirhan Topcu moved to Besiktas from Çaykur Rizespor in the summer of 2024, and he has since been an integral member of the squad. The centre-back has featured regularly this season, scoring in the 3-0 victory over Erzurumspor. The Turkiye international has made 79 appearances for Besiktas thus far, registering four goal contributions.
The 25-year-old appears to be a player who is on a strong trajectory in Turkish football. In Topcu, Spurs would be getting a player with strength, composure on the ball and a good amount of experience. He also has European pedigree in his CV.
For now, De Zerbi has four central defenders. Van de Ven, Van Hecke, Senesi and Tosin are all good defenders with leadership skills. However, if they all fail to stem the flow of goals in the coming months, then a move for a new centre-back in January cannot be ruled out. Whether a move for Topcu would then be feasible remains to be seen.
The Lewis family has also pumped in an additional £120m that could be used to bolster the squad in the winter, giving the Lilywhites a strong chance of landing the Besiktas star.
