Chelsea grinning after Tottenham reignite £60m transfer to cover Van de Ven injury
A Tottenham transfer that can be made for £60m is back in play on the back of Micky van de Ven’s hamstring injury, and the move would work in Chelsea’s favour, according to reports.
Anything that could go wrong did go wrong for Spurs on Monday night. Their unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign was ended by bitter rivals Chelsea. Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero both saw red, while Micky van de Ven and James Maddison sustained injuries.
Tottenham are waiting for the swelling to subside before conducting a scan on Van de Ven’s hamstring. However, manager Ange Postecoglou suggested the injury looked “significant” in his post-match comments.
The Dutchman could therefore be facing up to a multi-month lay-off. Romero will be banned for three matches, meaning Tottenham’s only senior and established centre-back left to select in the next three matches is Eric Dier.
But with Dier seeking to leave the club and Tottenham hopeful of collecting a fee in January, the centre-back position at Spurs is in a veritable crisis.
As such, talk of Tottenham signing a new centre-half in January is ramping up. Football Insider recently listed Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth), Tosin Adarabioyo (Fulham) and Edmond Tapsoba (Bayer Leverkusen) as three names under consideration at Spurs.
The trio were all in Tottenham’s sights over the summer and a £20m bid was even lodged for Kelly. However, when all was said and done only Van de Ven arrived.
Ashley Phillips did sign up from Blackburn Rovers, though the 18-year-old is viewed as more of a long-term prospect.
Kelly unavailable; Tapsoba deal difficult; Guehi back in play?
TEAMtalk has learned Bournemouth will not entertain a sale for Kelly under any circumstance in January.
Their reasoning is understandable, with the Cherries unwiling to lose arguably their best defender in the midst of a relegation scrap.
Elsewhere, prising Tapsoba out of Leverkusen who are in a Bundesliga title race looks mightily difficult to achieve.
Instead, a fresh report from The Evening Standard has floated the idea of Spurs reigniting their interest in Crystal Palace and England ace, Marc Guehi.
The 23-year-old is labelled a ‘long-time target’ at Tottenham. A prior report from Football Insider claimed Palace would be willing to cash in on Guehi if offers of around £60m are bid.
The crux of The Standard’s report centres around Kelly, though TEAMtalk know that pursuit is a dead end given Bournemouth’s firm stance.
The report states Palace are also likely to resist selling Guehi mid-season, though that won’t prevent Tottenham from exploring a move.
Guehi is right-footed and as such, would not appear to be a direct replacement for Van de Ven. However, he generally operates in the left-sided centre-back role when playing alongside Joachim Andersen at Palace.
The report concluded Postecoglou wants the club to get their ducks in a row and wrap up their January business early in the window.
Two contract clauses bring Chelsea into play
A January move for Guehi – while clearly ambitious – would also ring alarm bells over at Stamford Bridge.
Guehi left Chelsea for Palace to the tune of £18m back in 2021. However, the Blues inserted two separate clauses into Guehi’s contract at Selhurst Park.
The South London Press claimed the first clause ensures Chelsea ‘hold matching rights’ in the event Palace accept a bid for Guehi. In other words, Chelsea have the option to match any bid Palace accept.
Furthermore, The Mirror reported in May that any Guehi sale will see Chelsea net 25 percent of the fee via a sell-on clause.
If Guehi moved for the round figure of £60m, for example, Chelsea would be in line to receive £15m through their sell-on clause.
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