Happy Thursday, y’all. Most of you are probably glued to your screens (or the iPads under your desks) watching the first round of the NCAA tournament, and fair enough — it’s the international break and that means little to no actual news or matches to talk about for the next week and a half.
So why not a transfer rumor from a dubious source? Well, I got you fam. There’s an article out in AfricaFoot that Tottenham Hotspur have made an approach to Wolves for 23-year old Algerian fullback Rayan Aït-Nouri.
Now look, I don’t really know how to evaluate the efficacy of transfer rumors that originate in [checks notes] AfricaFoot. It certainly isn’t up there with The Guardian or BBC. That said, I quite like Rayan Aït-Nouri, think he’s a good player, would be open to seeing this happen, and it’s a slow news week so damn the torpedoes, we’re writing it up!
You might have heard this, but Tottenham are in the market for a dribbly left back to complement Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence, and Aït-Nouri would fit the bill pretty dang well. The Algerian international is one of Wolves’ best players, his skill set leads me to think that he’d do well in an inverted fullback system, and his dribbling ability could pair well with Son Heung-Min or Wilson Odobert on the left flank. He’s not the best at progressive passing, but he retains the ball very well and is not afraid to take on players in possession. He’s the definition of a complete fullback and at age 23 he’s in that sweet spot where he’s a quality player who still likely hasn’t hit his ceiling.
AfricaFoot says Spurs are the “most likely” (whatever that means) club to sign Aït-Nouri, but he’s attracting interest from Liverpool and (lol) West Ham. There’s no info on how much his transfer fee would be, but my guess is “stupid high.” He’s a real talent.
Is this a cromulent rumor? Look man, don’t ask me that right now. It’s a rumor about a good player linked to Tottenham Hotspur, and after this season I’ll take all the positive vibes I can get. And he’d be a pretty fantastic get, if you ask me.
