Tottenham Hotspur have enquired about the availability of AS Roma’s Nicola Zalewski on a potential move to north London recently, according to the Italian outlet Corriere Dello Sport.
Roma responded firmly by stating their intention to keep hold of Zalewski beyond this summer. Tottenham’s interest is down to the fact that Antonio Conte is a keen admirer of the youngster’s qualities which prompted Spurs to approach the Italian club, but their attempt was unsuccessful in the end.
The north Londoners are said to be not the only interested party, with Paris Saint-Germain having also contacted Jose Mourinho’s team to hold discussions over Zalewski. The Serie A outfit have stood firm in their stance that the Polish international will not be sold in this transfer window.
The Giallorossi are in a favourable position, having renewed the 20-year-old’s contract until 2025 last December. Mourinho has been left impressed by Zalewski, which played a part in Roma’s decision to tie down the midfielder on a new deal last year.
Our View
Primarily playing in the left-hand side of the midfield, Zalewski has shown great versatility to be utilised as an attacking midfielder or even a left-winger when called upon. That makes it understandable why we have decided to target the Serie A ace even if he is not a finished product at this moment.
After all, we are in the market for someone who can play as a number ten (Evening Standard), which is one of the positions that Zalewski can fill in without any issue. At the same time, his flexibility would also enable Conte to use him as a backup for Son Heung-Min after Steven Bergwijn left for Ajax in a deal worth £26million (BBC).
Zalewski has continued to develop over the last year or so, and he has also performed quite well in the pre-season fixtures so far. In fact, he has even excelled against us in our final friendly match before suffering the unfortunate injury with his side winning by a 1-0 scoreline.
Zalewski’s growth has attracted a host of attention, considering how Chelsea are also interested in securing his signature (CalcioMercatoWeb). The report also states that Roma has no motive to sell him unless they receive outlandish proposals in the region of £42-£50million.
Hence, it would be interesting to see the decision Fabio Paratici would take regarding this matter in the future. We have also been linked with a move for Nicolo Zaniolo (Calciomercato), so perhaps a choice must be made between the two if there are serious plans to make another signing ahead of the next campaign.
