As Andre Gomes gets increasingly frustrated at Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur are preparing to lodge a bid for the Portuguese in the January transfer window.
As per reports in The Sun, Tottenham are looking to feed on Gomes’ frustrating time at the Camp Nou by snapping him up in the January transfer window.
Barcelona took a keen interest in Gomes after the Portuguese put up impressive displays in his country’s Euro 2016 triumph. The Catalans soon signed him from Valencia for €35 million, but the 24-year old failed to live up to the billing and has mostly found himself warming the bench.
At the turn of the year, Barcelona were already on the lookout for a defensive midlfielder as they chased Marco Verratti relentlessly, making it obvious that Gomes does not feature in their first team plan whatsoever. Verratti’s move never came through, and instead Barcelona signed former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho in the summer.
Barcelona usually deploy a 4-3-3 formation with Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic occupying the midfield three. Now with Paulinho also an option for manager Ernesto Valverde, Gomes’ chance of breaking into the first team looks bleaker than ever.
Waiting to capitalize on this situation are Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur. The North Londoners, initially chasing Ross Barkley from Everton, are now eyeing a move for Gomes. It might turn out to be a smart move, as not only is Gomes the better player, but Spurs will have to pay much less for the Portuguese as compared to Barkley.
As for Gomes, he will desperately be looking to play regularly after being a squad player for a year, as his place in the national team could be under threat with the World cup fast approaching.
Barcelona have enough depth in their squad strike a deal with Spurs for Gomes, even if it is not a permanent one. Tottenham, too, will heavily benefit from Gomes’ presence.
However, even at Spurs, Gomes will hardly be guaranteed a place in the first team, as Tottenham’s midfield four already seem to be doing a good job for Pochettino, and the last thing that Gomes would want is to sit on the bench at Tottenham.
One would imagine that Gomes will have to make the most of his game-time at Barcelona this season, in order to keep his place for Portugal at the very least for the World Cup next year.