Tottenham ‘frontrunner’ to sign Real Madrid star as repeat of £51m flop looms after Man Utd mistakes | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur are the ‘frontrunner’ in the race to sign a Real Madrid star, but they face a repeat of a £51m flop in a deal that’s bound to fail…

Head coach Thomas Frank has had an incredibly troubling few weeks as he has swiftly become one of the favourites to be the next Premier League manager sacked ahead of Liverpool’s Arne Slot. 

Initially, Frank oversaw an improvement as he unsurprisingly made Spurs tougher to beat, but he has clashed with supporters as his side has produced several nothing performances en route to slumping into the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Among Tottenham’s many problems is their toothless attack, so they are likely to try to add some firepower to their squad in next month’s transfer window.

And they could have an opportunity to sign Real Madrid star Rodrygo in the winter as the versatile attacker has reportedly been made available for a transfer. 

Every Big Six club has been linked with Rodrygo at some point over the past year as he his form and game time have massively declined following the arrival of Kylian Mbappe. Embarrassingly, he is currently without a goal in 30 games for Real Madrid.

Still, the 24-year-old has shown enough in previous years at Real Madrid to seemingly attract interest from Spurs and others, with a new report from Spanish outlet Fichajes claiming his valuation is set at 80 million euros (around £70m) ahead of the New Year.

The same report claims Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd are ‘monitoring his situation’, but Spurs are ‘the frontrunner’ to secure his services.

The report claims:

MORE SPURS COVERAGE ON F365… 👉 How long Thomas Frank has to avoid Tottenham sack as Fabrizio Romano gives update 👉 Spurs, Villa or Newcastle ‘highly likely’ £35m transfer to be delayed as ‘tempting offers’ mooted 👉 

Now, this deal could prove to be a coup for Spurs, but it is hard to see this being the case and they could have another Xavi Simons on their hands.

£51m Simons, like Rodrygo, is an attacking player with a great pedigree from playing in Europe, but the Premier League is an entirely different animal, and it would not be surprising if the Real Madrid wantaway also struggles to adapt.

His limited physicality is a concern following the Premier League’s recent evolution, while it is also a worry that no other club has bitten Real Madrid’s hands off to sign him over the past year.

This may be mainly due to Real Madrid’s lofty valuation, but it could also be related to clubs being unwilling to make such a commitment to a player who would be a risky purchase for a Premier League club.

Also, Real Madrid rarely make poor decisions when selling a player, as they typically cash in at the right time when their player is on a decline.

Man Utd learned that the hard way with Raphael Varane and Casemiro, so Spurs could face the same issue with Rodrygo in another costly transfer mistake.