Tottenham seal impressive signing coup as Juventus plot one last Kolo Muani steal | OneFootball

Tottenham have clinched the signing of a highly-rated attacker from London rivals West Ham, while Juventus are not done with trying to bring Randal Kolo Muani back to Turin ahead of the close of the winter transfer window.

Teenage winger Elisha Sowunmi has signed for the club on a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee from the Hammers after spending a decade at the London Stadium.

The 18-year-old progressed through all the age groups at West Ham before winning the U18 Premier League Cup last season, assisting both goals in the final against Reading.

Capable of playing out wide or as a number 10, Sowunmi was top scorer for West Ham’s Under-18s last season, with his tally including hat-tricks against Reading and Aston Villa.

Sowunmi would have been a free agent at the end of the season and by moving this month, the Hammers have negotiated a sell-on clause with Tottenham as part of the deal.

Juventus not giving up on Kolo Muani signing

Meanwhile, reports in Italy claim that Juventus will make a final attempt to sign Randal Kolo Muani before Monday’s transfer deadline, but the Bianconeri are running out of time to convince Spurs in allowing the loanee to move on.

The France international made a big impact playing for Juve in the second half of last season, as he notched 10 goals in 20 appearances across all competitions.

Things have not gone anywhere near that well in north London, with Kolo Muani only scoring three times, with all of those goals coming in the Champions League.

Indeed, there were reports earlier this week that Tottenham were ready to let the 27-year-old head back to parent club PSG ahead of a return to Turin, but Italian outlets Tuttosport and Gazzetta both insisted that Thomas Frank was not in favour of Kolo Muani leaving.

The Dane remains a fan of what the attacker can do for Tottenham, despite his poor return so far, with Frank particularly impressed with how Kolo Muani performed in the win at his former club Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek.

He told reporters ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manchester City: “I really hope this goal and the performance can give him some confidence to build from. His qualities and abilities, I always liked them.

“I think he gives us a different dimension. The first action inside the second minute against Frankfurt, where he is bursting through on the left-hand side… that one-v-one ability and pace is frightening.

“His goal is well taken, being in the right position inside the six-yard box on a ball headed back in the mix. Also his ability to go in behind. Hopefully, we’re getting closer and closer.

“Sometimes you need the rhythm. He came with basically no pre-season, got injured, broke his jawbone and then he got a little bit up to pace, we are not being free-floating, all that.

“Hopefully now we are on the right end of things and he can be better.”

A major part of the reasoning behind not letting Kolo Muani leave at this stage of the window is how difficult it would be to find a replacement.

Spurs are already missing Richarlison for a number of weeks still, while young forward Dane Scarlett, who has been on the bench a lot of late, has joined Hibernian on loan and Dominic Solanke has only just returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

To that end, whether Juventus come calling again or not, Tottenham would be mad to let Kolo Muani leave now – unless, of course, they have a trick up their sleeve and a late striker deal is close to being signed off.

Spurs do, after all, love a bit of deadline drama.