Tottenham eyeing late move to sign £60m star who's similar to Eberechi Eze

Tottenham Hotspur remain in the market for a new number 10 as we fast approach deadline day on September 1, and time is running out for chairman Daniel Levy to back manager Thomas Frank with a replacement for the injured James Maddison.

Spurs missed out on Eberechi Eze in spectacular fashion, despite believing that they were on the verge of signing the England international when Spurs agreed personal terms and verbally agreed a deal with Crystal Palace.

When Arsenal came knocking, all hopes of landing the 27-year-old were dashed, as the boyhood Gunners supporter was always going to choose a move to N5 when Mikel Arteta's side matched Tottenham's bid.

Now, after also missing out on Morgan Gibbs-White earlier in the summer, Tottenham are scrambling for a playmaker who can genuinely upgrade Frank's options - and their pool is running desperately thin.

Previously-linked target Tyler Dibling has just completed a move to Everton, so he's off the table, while an audacious late swoop for Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers is looking increasingly unlikely.

“They started making some calls today to try to understand the situation for new players to add to their squads," said Fabrizio Romano a few days ago. “One of the dream targets they have at Tottenham internally is Morgan Rogers at Aston Villa, but it is seen as a very difficult deal because Villa don’t want to lose the player. “People in the industry believe that this deal is almost impossible for Morgan Rogers, but I can tell you Tottenham are thinking about him as a perfect candidate.”

Monaco's Maghnes Akliouche, Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott and Leicester City's Bilal El Khannouss are other names linked with a late move to N17, as is Como starlet Nico Paz, but a move for the latter is very difficult considering Real Madrid have buy-back options, matching rights and a 50 per cent sell-on clause - meaning he is basically a Bernabeu player in all but name.

Another last-gasp target, now backed up by broadcast giant talkSPORT, is West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta.

Tottenham eye late move for West Ham star Lucas Paqueta

The Brazil international is valued at around £60 million, and talkSPORT correspondent Alex Crook reports that Tottenham are considering a late move for Paqueta after also tempting Mohammed Kudus from east London earlier in the window.

West Ham's Tomas Soucek celebrates with goalscorer Lucas Paqueta against Chelsea.

However, after West Ham stood by him in the midst of his betting scandal allegations, it is believed that the 28-year-old isn't exactly clamoring to leave the London Stadium as things stand.

Graham Potter is also reluctant to lose him as his West Ham side struggled at the start of this Premier League season, but if Spurs make both the Hammers and Paqueta an offer too good to refuse, he could be an ideal signing.

The former Lyon star endured a difficult campaign last term, but was once on the cusp of a move to Man City after a stellar 2022/2023 campaign - a season where he provided the assist for Jarrod Bowen's historic Conference League-winning goal.

Paqueta's bagged 20 goals and 14 assists in total for West Ham since joining from Lyon, and he's interestingly been called a "similar" player to Eze by Football Transfers.

Click here to read article