Tottenham ‘among favourites’ to sign Man City reject as Postecoglou plots necessary Bundesliga raid | OneFootball

Tottenham linked Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ko Itakura wins an aerial challenge

Tottenham are among the main contenders to sign Borussia Monchengladbach centre-back Ko Itakura this summer, according to reports.

Ange Postecoglou has made bringing in at least one quality centre-back his transfer priority. This is no surprise, given Spurs conceded 63 goals in the Premier League last season.

The manager has plenty of players on his shortlist. But, it seems Itakura has emerged as a genuine option for Tottenham.

That is according to Sky Sports Germany, who claim the London club are ‘one of the favourites’ to sign the Japan international, who wants to leave Monchengladbach this summer.

Interestingly, Postecoglou tried to sign Itakura when he was at Celtic. Also, the manager knows the player well from his time with Japanese side Yokohama F Marino.

Itakura signed for Manchester City in 2019 from Kawasaki Frontale. However, he failed to make a single appearance for the club.

He went on two loan spells, firstly to FC Groningen and then to FC Schalke – where he was particularly impressive.

Monchengladbach paid €5m (approx. £4.2m) to sign the 26-year-old. But now, he is already pushing for a move away from the club.

As mentioned, this has caught the attention of Tottenham, along with Napoli, who are also interested in signing the defender.

Last season, Itakura made 24 Bundesliga appearances for Monchengladbach. He was ruled out of many games due to injury, but still helped his team to six clean sheets.

It isn’t clear how much Tottenham would need to pay to sign Itakura this summer. Although, Transfermarkt value him at approximately £12m. So, a bid in that region would most likely be required.

But, it’s worth noting that he isn’t the only centre-back Postecoglou has on his radar.

As previously reported by Football365, Tottenham are currently in talks over signing Wolfsburg defender Micky van de Ven this summer.

Van De Ven is keen on joining Spurs and talks on personal terms are at ‘an advanced stage’. They are yet to make a concrete bid for his services, but reports suggest one is expected imminently.

Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Edmond Tapsoba is another player linked with a move to Tottenham. But, talks with him are not as advanced as they are with Van de Ven.

Clearly, Postecoglou is casting his eye over options from the Bundesliga at the moment. So, it will be interesting to see who they make a bid for first.

But, even if they do sign Van De Ven, there is no reason why Tottenham couldn’t sign Itakura too. Indeed, with Postecoglou willing to sell Ben Davies, Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez, the manager may well bring in more than one defender.