Spurs: Adama Traore deal over in dramatic transfer twist | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a late blow ahead of the January transfer window deadline…

What’s the word?

According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, a move for Wolves winger Adama Traore has fallen through at the 11th hour with the player rejecting Spurs’ offer and he’s now closing in on a switch to Barcelona instead.

“Barcelona working to sign Adama Traore from Wolves on loan with ~€35m buy option. #FCBarcelona speaking to #WWFC & 26yo. Not done yet. Spurs deal all-but over. Club-to-club talks were going positively but he wasn’t keen to play RWB,” he tweeted alongside an accompanying article.

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The 26-year-old played for the LaLiga giants before moving to Aston Villa in 2015.

He looked set to join the Lilywhites after positive talks with the Old Gold hierarchy but now manager Antonio Conte has been dealt a gutting setback just days away from the transfer window closing.

Time running out

It appears as if the Italian head coach has little faith in his current wide options, particularly at right wing-back, where he has switched between Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty intermittently.

Traore would have likely been transformed into a solid option in the role, given Conte’s previous success with Victor Moses at Chelsea, where he converted the struggling attacker into a Premier League and FA Cup winner.

The Spain international’s lack of end product makes him a weak choice to play up front but his physical and dribbling (seven successful attempts per 90) attributes would suggest that he would be quite the threat a little further back.

“He’s a machine. I was watching him pre-game and he could be a powerlifter or a cruiser-weight boxer – he’s huge,” pundit Rio Ferdinand once told BT Sport (via BirminghamLive).

With just the weekend to go in the window, it seems hard to envisage sporting director Fabio Paratici and co finding an alternative in such a niche position in time.

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Attention will now surely turn to getting Sofyan Amrabat and Luis Diaz over the line before Monday but even if the club does manage to secure both, which seems unlikely – it is Spurs after all – then it still falls short of Conte’s desires to sign three players in priority positions.

This latest bombshell from Ornstein will surely leave him absolutely furious as he desperately needs to bolster the squad with quality additions.