Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa are set to do battle over the signature of three-time Serie A winner Rodrigo Bentancur. The Juventus midfielder has been a semi-regular presence in his side’s starting 11 this campaign, but the Italian giants are now open to a deal.
Villa saw an offer of £16 million plus more than £4.5 million in bonuses on Friday, with Juventus looking for at least £21 million up-front due to the fact that a clause in their signing of Bentancur from Boca Juniors dictates that upon his sale, they must pay the Argentine side 30% of the sell-on fee. This report comes from Sky Italy, who also believe that Villa and Juventus are not particularly far apart in their valuation of the player, while Spurs are yet to make a bid.
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa Battling Over Rodrigo Bentancur
Contrasting Transfer Windows
Unlike that of Spurs, Villa have had an extremely productive January transfer window. Former Liverpool man Philippe Coutinho was brought in on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season, while Lucas Digne, who used to play for the Catalan powerhouse, also signed for Steven Gerrard’s men. In an unexpected development, the Villans were also able to obtain Calum Chambers, formerly of Arsenal, on a free transfer this Thursday.
By contrast, Tottenham have struggled to bring in the targets of new manager Antonio Conte this month. The North London club were targeting Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore, but he is now set to join Barcelona after Spurs failed to agree on a deal with Wolves. Conte believed he could get the best out of Traore by deploying him as a wing-back. Tottenham were also looking into a possible move for former Fiorentina star man Dusan Vlahovic, but he has now completed a move to Juventus. Bentancur would likely represent a replacement for Tanguy Ndombele, who may be on his way either to Paris Saint-Germain or Valencia.
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