da supremo： According to reports in The Mirror, Tottenham Hotspur are set to battle Premier League rivals Liverpool and Everton, as well as Juventus, for the £30m signing of Lazio forward Keita Balde Diao.
da dobrowin： The 22-year-old is refusing to sign a new contract with the Serie A giants following an impressive campaign with performances that have alerted a number of clubs, both in Italy and in England.
It is believed that the Senegal international is holding out for a move to last season’s Champions League finalists Juventus, but if a transfer to the Old Lady fails to materialise he could come to the English top flight.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino is keen to strengthen his squad this summer to ensure that they are contenders to win the Premier League title again next season, and bringing the attacker to north London would certainly help that cause.
Here are three reasons Tottenham must win the race to sign Keita Balde Diao…
Performance
The forward showed just how good he can be by scoring 16 goals and providing a further five assists in 31 Serie A appearances last season, and those are statistics that certainly will have caught the eye of Mauricio Pochettino.
The Argentine boss will be looking for attacking players that can have more of an impact than Moussa Sissoko and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou had after joining the club last summer, and he could get it in the form of the impressive 22-year-old.
Pace
While the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen are certainly no slouches, they aren’t lightning-quick either and the arrival of Keita Balde would certainly add another attacking dimension to the Spurs frontline.
The Senegal international has bags of pace and as well as being a menace for opposition defenders, he would also be hugely effective on the counter-attack – something that might be particularly useful in the Champions League and on the big Wembley pitch next season.
Potential
Having already shown how good he can be at a big club like Lazio despite being just 22 years of age, the sky seems to be the limit for the Senegal international.
The forward has plenty of time to improve his game and when you see how Dele Alli and Harry Kane have brought on their respective games under Mauricio Pochettino, there is no reason why Keita Balde can’t do the same.
While £30m may seem like a sizeable fee, it could prove to be a bargain in the long-term if the attacker can play a pivotal part in helping Spurs win their first Premier League title.
Do you agree, Spurs fans? Let us know below.