Next Tottenham transfer pursuit ignites as Postecoglou chases Wolves star after Werner, Dragusin deals

Tottenham Hotspur are turning their attention to their next January signing after beginning a pursuit of Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes, according to reports in his native Brazil.

So far this month, Tottenham have strengthened their squad by bringing in Timo Werner on loan from RB Leipzig and Radu Dragusin on a permanent deal from Genoa. However, there could be yet more transfers on their agenda.

In midfield, they are currently without Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr due to the Africa Cup of Nations. Since their options are temporarily limited, they could look to reinforce the department.

According to Fla Web, that means they have now identified Gomes from Wolves as key target.

Not only are Tottenham said to be ‘keeping an eye’ on the 22-year-old, but they ‘are signalling that they will make an investment in him very soon’.

In other words, Spurs seem to be preparing a bid for Wolves to respond to.

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The asking price set by the Molineux outfit would not be any lower than €35m (about £30m), per the report.

Wolves will have to pay 10% of the transfer fee they receive back to Gomes’ former club Flamengo due to a sell-on clause that was agreed when they brought him to England 12 months ago.

Wolves want to keep Joao Gomes

With all that in mind, Wolves are reluctant to let go of Gomes, whom they consider to be ‘essential’ to their plans after handing him a contract until 2028 with the option of a further year.

Indeed, Gomes has started 17 of their 20 Premier League games so far this season.

In contrast, he only started seven of their 18 Premier League games after he signed partway through last season, which reflects how his gametime has grown more recently.

Gomes has not scored any goals yet this season, nor made any assists, but he has become much more important in a Wolves midfield that lost Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Matheus Nunes over the summer.

In fact, only two players in the entire Premier League have made more tackles than him so far this season.

Perhaps the next step of his development could be to join a club like Tottenham.

In addition to losing Bissouma and Sarr temporarily, several Spurs midfielders have been linked with other clubs in recent weeks.

For example, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Giovani Lo Celso have both been tipped to move on in 2024, even if Tottenham’s current predicament might mean they have to wait a while longer to leave.

Hojbjerg and Lo Celso are both due to see their Tottenham contracts expire at the end of next season, so may have to be sold before then.

In that case, vacancies would open up in Postecoglou’s midfield, which in theory could be filled by someone like Gomes.

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