Tottenham 'had contact' over signing £26m star at Hotspur Way | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur initiated ‘contact’ over signing Weston McKennie during the summer and there is a possibility that he could move to Hotspur Way in January as Juventus are now ‘open to selling’ the star, according to Serie A journalist Carlo Garganese.

Antonio Conte, who celebrated a year in the Spurs hot seat last month, will be handed the opportunity to bolster his squad when the winter window opens at the turn of the year.

Tottenham transfer news – Weston McKennie

According to Italian media outlet Tuttosport, Tottenham have upped the ante in their pursuit of McKennie and opened talks with the transfer target’s representatives.

The report suggests managing director Fabio Paratici and Conte are admirers of the United States international, who is currently at the World Cup.

The development comes after CBS Sports, via the Express, revealed Spurs are seriously considering lodging a bid as they are preparing to be busy in the transfer market once again.

Juventus are not necessarily under pressure to sell McKennie as his contract, which is worth £49,000-per-week according to Salary Sport, still has more than two-and-a-half years to run.

The central midfielder has been on the Serie A giants’ books since making an initial loan switch from Schalke in 2020.

Calciomercato have revealed that £26million could be enough for McKennie’s suitors to strike a deal.

What has Carlo Garganese said about McKennie?

Garganese understands that Tottenham were keen to lure McKennie to the capital during the summer and held talks.

The journalist is aware that Juventus are now willing to offload the 24-year-old due to the abundance of talent currently at their disposal.

Garganese told GIVEMESPORT: “I don’t know about recently, but I know that there was some contact there in the summer.

“I don’t know how advanced, if at all, it was. There’s always contact between clubs for players.

“But what I can tell you from the Juventus side is that McKennie is a player that they would be open to selling, maybe even potentially in January.

“The reason for that is that Juventus are very well stocked in central midfield. They’ve got a lot of players in centre midfield.”

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Should Tottenham look to sign McKennie in January?

McKennie played a key role in the United States progressing past the World Cup group stage, starting all three clashes against Wales, England and Iran, as per Transfermarkt.

The Juventus man was integral in Gregg Berhalter’s side overcoming Iran as he played what CBS Sports described as ‘the perfect pass’ in the build-up to Christian Pulisic’s winner.

McKennie would make Tottenham more difficult to break down and clearly puts his body on the line as FBref statistics show he ranks in the 94th percentile for shots blocked among his positional peers over the last year.

Juventus are in turmoil after president Andrea Agnelli, vice-chairman Pavel Nedved and the rest of the board resigned earlier this week – as per The Athletic – meaning January could be the perfect time to pounce.