Tottenham Hotspur are now eyeing a move for the second fastest centre-back in Europe behind their very own Micky van de Ven.
Champions League football is the goal for Tottenham this season – even if Ange Postecoglou is unwilling to admit it.
The Lilywhites have taken seven points from a possible nine over the last week or so with their latest outing against Nottingham Forest seeing Spurs win 3-1.
Once again, Spurs were unable to keep a clean sheet as they left the fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium frustrated after letting their lead slip.
Timo Werner‘s bright start to life in a Spurs shirt has continued and he is a player who Spurs will surely be looking to bring in over the summer.
It is believed the German is keen to remain in north London and Tottenham hold a £15m option which has to be activated by 14 June.
But Spurs are looking to make a number of summer signings as Postecoglou prepares for a season in Europe.
The Spurs News have already been told that the Lilywhites are looking to bring in at least one forward over the coming months, as well as a midfielder and defender.
And it seems they may now have identified the defender who they feel would fit their system perfectly.
Tottenham want centre-back who only Micky van de Ven is quicker than
Postecoglou’s first summer transfer window has turned out to have been a roaring success.
A host of new faces walked through the doors at Hotspur Way over his first few months at the club and the majority have proven to be excellent signings.
Guglielmo Vicario, Brennan Johnson and James Maddison are just some of the standout signings made which have drastically improved the starting XI.
However, perhaps the best signing of them all has proven to be Micky van de Ven after he joined from Wolfsburg for £43m.
The 22-year-old has now established himself as one of the best centre-backs in the whole Premier League and even been likened to Virgil van Dijk over the weekend.
A lot of the praise coming his way has been for his speed which has now seen him being clocked as the Premier League’s fastest ever player.
But the game against Forest has shown he has a lot more to his game than just his natural pace.
And now it seems as if Tottenham would like to replicate the signing of the Dutchman by signing a 23-year-old in Mohamed Simakan who has been named the second-quickest centre-back in Europe by Speedsdb.
According to Sky Germany, Simakan is a player of interest for Spurs as he looks to make the move to the Premier League from RB Leipzig.
It is reported the centre-back’s release clause is €70m (£60m) but Newcastle United could also battle Tottenham for the defender.
Why Ange Postecoglou’s recent comments may prove true over the summer
Over the last week, Postecoglou has been badgered for answers on what qualifying for the Champions League will do for Spurs.
But he has insisted that it won’t change much as he does not want players who would only come to Spurs to play in the Champions League.
“If you want UCL football and that’s all you want, you don’t want to come to Tottenham; you just want to go to a Champions League club. I want people to come to Tottenham who know this club, know the challenge we’ve got,” he told the media last week.
And this is something which proved to work last summer with players arriving because they wanted to play for Spurs when they did not even have any form of European football.
With competition from the likes of Newcastle – who could miss out on Europe altogether – it would be natural for a player to pick Spurs over the coming months.
Spurs are now in a much stronger position than 12 months ago, so Postecoglou will need to do a lot of character checking before approving signings this summer.