Ready to get mad on a Wednesday? There are new reports in the French media that suggests Tottenham Hotspur are now monitoring Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic as a Harry Kane replacement in the event Tottenham sell him to Bayern Munich.
This report is in Foot Mercato, which is notable only because Vlahovic is also apparently a target for PSG in the event Kylian Mbappe leaves the club. It states that Vlahovic, whom Tottenham had a keen interest in two summers ago, is again at the top of Tottenham’s wish-list should Kane be sold. Juventus ended up buying him that summer for about €82m (~£70m).
This is a distressing rumor on a couple of levels. First, because it’s further smoke surrounding the idea that Harry Kane could very well be sold to Bayern this summer (and as much as I think it’s probably the right decision, it would still very much suck and I’d be sad). Secondly, Vlahovic just hasn’t been very good at Juventus. He had 17 goals and three assists in two seasons for the Old Lady; that’s coming off of two seasons at Fiorentina where he scored 21 and 17 goals respectively. That doesn’t bode especially well for Vlahovic’s transition to the Premier League, which is a faster and more difficult competition.
I’m not really sure what to make of it, or why his Fiorentina numbers didn’t translate over to a better team in the same league, but it’s not great. Even so, he’s still only 23 so there’s space for him to grow and develop? Foot Mercato says that Juventus value him at €70m (~£60m) which honestly is less than I expected, and probably means Spurs would get him for even cheaper than that if they really were interested.
But I’ll say I’m a lot less enthused about the idea of spending big money for Vlahovic this summer than I was two summers ago. Maybe I’m just being a curmudgeon but the bloom seems to have come off that rose somewhat, and if Spurs really are looking for a Kane replacement I think I’d like them to look elsewhere.
