Tottenham Hotspur have received a transfer blow as Sassuolo striker Simone Zaza is set to choose his former club Juventus over the Londoners in the coming summer.
Tottenham were linked with the striker and were willing to offer him a more lucrative contract, but the 23-year old is set to snub them for Juve who partly own the player.
Christian Maifredi, Zaza’s representative, had said earlier in the month, “Tottenham? No-one called me, I dona t know if Sassuolo had contacts.”
The move will definitely be a blow for Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino who had identified Zaza as a potential signing in order to ease the goalscoring pressure on young Harry Kane’s shoulders. Kane has been in brilliant form for Spurs this season after having scored an incredible 26 goals in all competitions and has shown that despite being at the tender age of 21, he can produce the goods.
However, Tottenham, will have to handle Kane with care and will know that they’ll need good backup for him next season. This season, they have failed to find a good partner for Kane which may be a factor as to why they are still only seventh in the league despite Kane’s brilliant form. Christian Eriksen has been a good contributor of goals from midfield, but Pochettino knows that he’ll have to replace the misfiring duo of Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor in the summer if they are to get into the top four next season.
Zaza could have been an ideal player for Tottenham as the Italian is known for his brilliant finishing coupled with his physique that could have been exploited in the Premier League.
According to reports, Juventus will have to pay A?11m for his services and will give him a three-year deal. After an impressive Serie B campaign with Ascoli in the 2012-13 season, Zaza scored nine times in 33 appearances last season for Sassuolo. This season, Zaza is just one behind his previous season’s tally as he has plundered eight goals so far in 21 appearances. If the deal goes through, Zaza will join the likes of Alvaro Morata, Carlos Tevez, Fernando Llorente and Alessandro Matri in attack at Juventus.
Tottenham will now have to look elsewhere for a striker and it’s very likely that they will strengthen considering Soldado and Adebayor’s poor form this season. The duo have scored just seven goals between them in 50 appearances, which means Pochettino might no longer rely on them.