Tottenham have reportedly approached Sassuolo for Simone Zaza, but Juventus must give the all-clear.
Tottenham Hotspur have started the ball rolling on a potential purchase of Sassuolo striker Simone Zaza, but will need a helping hand from Juventus to push through a deal. Zaza has impressed Spurs with his feats at Sassuolo and the English side are keen on taking him to White Hart Lane. According to Sky Italia, on Thursday, Tottenham officials held talks with their counterparts at Sassuolo over Zaza, to explore a possible deal. Juventus though have first refusal on Zaza and can buy him for a set price of a 15m at the end of this season or a 18m at the end of the 2015/16 campaign. The 23-year-old Italy international has scored seven goals in 13 Serie A games this season. Spurs are interested in the forward and met with Sassuolo general manager Giovanni Carnevali today. If Sassuolo are to sell Zaza, they first need permission from Juve to release that clause.
Spurs will now be keen to establish how serious Juventus’ interest in taking advantage of their first refusal clause is. The 23-year-old has also made it to the senior Italy squad and has four caps and one goal to his name. Sassuolo have Zaza under contract until 2019. Zaza is a player of a combative nature, picking up 15 yellow cards over the past one and a half seasons. He was called into the Italian international side this September, replacing Mario Balotelli who was dropped. In terms of style, Zaza is not a striker who likes to stand still and wait for the ball to be delivered to him. He is always moving and leads the attack from the front in a similar way to Carlos Tevez. This often translates into a negative impact with Zaza conceding on average three fouls per game this season, the most of any Sassuolo player.
Tottenham are also after Burnley striker Danny Ings. The England under-21 striker is out of contract in the summer but would still cost around A?7m – and Mauricio Pochettino wants him. Ings has also been linked with Liverpool, Newcastle and Rangers. The 22-year-old has stated his intention to see out the season with Burnley to help keep them up, but could be tempted to move to White Hart Lane. They are also set to to battle it out with Liverpool for the signature of England under-21 striker Saido Berahino. It is understood the Baggies are reluctant to sell their star player, who has shone in a struggling team, and will demand close to A?25million for the forward.