Tottenham insider ‘can’t see’ De Zerbi wanting to bring Spurs hero back | OneFootball

Tottenham insider John Wenham “can’t see” the club wanting to bring a hero back to Spurs once the summer transfer window comes around.

Spurs are attempting to claw their way back from the relegation mix. Tottenham occupy the final relegation spot and are two points below West Ham and five below Nottingham Forest.

While they could drag other sides in with positive results, it seems the likelihood is one of Spurs or West Ham will be relegated.

After drawing against Brighton last week, Tottenham maintained their two-point gap to the Hammers by beating Wolves 1-0, the only goal scored by Joao Palhinha.

The midfielder is only on loan in north London, and the club have the option to recruit him permanently for £22million.

But Wenham believes that’s unlikely, as he told Tottenham News: “I can’t see it as we’re building for hopefully a long-term future with De Zerbi and he is yet to pick him to start, whilst he’s selected all of Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Conor Gallagher, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur.

“It seems surprising, and likely just agent or intermediary talk.”

Want more breaking transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

Palhinha deal has been in doubt for months

Palhinha could end up being Tottenham’s hero this season. His late goal against Wolves ensured the gap to West Ham didn’t stretch to four points, and he’s also scored some other crucial goals this term.

He also scored in the victory over Manchester City on the second day of the season and bagged a stoppage time equaliser in the first match against Wolves.

The points he has gained for Tottenham with those goals could end up being the fine margins that keep them up.

In any case, his position as a Spurs player has long been under threat. TEAMtalk reported back in February that Thomas Frank’s departure as manager complicated the potential signing.

Indeed, the club were expected to make a decision on Palhinha in the summer, and the expectation was that Frank, the man who signed him, would still be at the helm.

But that was two managers ago, and as Palhinha hasn’t started under De Zerbi, the chances of him feeling the same way as Frank did seem slim.