A £60 million defender is said to be "ready" for a transfer away from his club this summer, with Tottenham now entering the race for his signature.
Ange admits Spurs could sign another centre-back after Dragusin
In January, Spurs sealed a £25 million deal for Radu Dragusin, who joined the club from Serie A side Genoa to provide Ange Postecoglou with a much-needed Micky van de Ven alternative.
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The Romania international is a work in progress but arrived at N17 with a glowing reputation, following an excellent period under Alberto Gilardino in Italy. Supporters may have been forgiven for thinking his arrival marked the end of Spurs' search for new defenders, but as confirmed by Postecoglou himself, their club could look to bring in even more centre-backs this summer.
“If you’re saying, ‘Is it an area we can strengthen?’, yes it’s an area we will probably look at”, said Postecoglou on signing new defenders.
“With all these things, it’s about trying to strengthen the group as much as anything else. If you think about when I first arrived, we had maybe six or seven centre-backs at the club. So it’s not just numbers. It’s more about the ability of those players to play the football we want and to fit in to what we’re trying to build here.
“I think it is an area of the park we will look to strengthen, but I think we’ll look to strengthen all areas of the park come the end of the season. That is planning that’s already underway, and other people are in charge of it at the moment.”
In terms of the options they could go for, Spurs have been named as contenders for Tosin Adarabioyo, who could leave Fulham for nothing in the summer as his contract ticks down towards expiry.
The free agent market could be a fruitful avenue for Postecoglou and technical director Johan Lange, with Bournemouth's Lloyd Kelly also set to be readily available for Tottenham as things stand.
However, they've also been linked with more marquee options, and another to have emerged this week is RB Leipzig defender Mohamed Simakan.
Simakan "ready for transfer" as Tottenham eye summer move
The versatile ace, who can play both centrally and as a full-back, could be on the move this summer after being a regular for Leipzig this season.
Union Berlin 0-3 RB Leipzig
7.82
RB Leipzig 3-1 Hoffenheim
7.63
RB Leipzig 2-0 Borussia Monchengladbach
7.60
Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 RB Leipzig
7.57
RB Leipzig 2-0 Darmstadt
7.56
Sky Germany reporter Philipp Hinze, taking to X, claims Simakan is now ready for a transfer as Tottenham eye his potential signing – adding that there is a £60 million release clause in his deal.
Interestingly, former Leipzig and Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has called Simakan a "very aggressive", "very smart" and "fast" defender in past seasons.