Ange Postecoglou could look to a familiar face to bolster Tottenham’s squad amid the club’s ongoing injury crisis.
With Ivan Perisic out for the season and Manor Solomon not expected to return until the new year due to knee surgery, Postecoglou is in desperate need of attacking reinforcements.
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According to The Times, it appears the Tottenham boss is hoping to reunite with former Celtic winger Jota.
The report claims the Premier League heavyweights have “stepped up their interest” in signing Jota on loan January from Saudi club Al-Ittihad.
Jota finds himself in the peculiar situation of being unable to play for Al-Ittihad despite joining the club in the summer for $AUD47 million.
After snapping up the Portuguese international, Al-Ittihad also signed Fabinho, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Luiz Felipe.
Al-Ittihad ultimately fell foul of the Saudi Pro League rules which limits teams to eight foreign players and Jota soon found himself the odd man out.
It was Jota’s form under Postecoglou at Celtic that prompted Al-Ittihad to fork out the money to sign him as the Portuguese flyer scored 28 goals and assisted 26 in all competitions over two seasons in Glasgow.
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Postecoglou isn’t just targeting players in the final third either, as The Times report claims centre back is the main “priority” in January.
Micky Van de Ven’s hamstring injury and Cristian Romero’s suspension has shone a light on the alarming lack of depth at the heart of defence for Tottenham.
Postecoglou was forced to play Emerson Royal and Ben Davies, right and left backs respectively, at centre back in the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa as Eric Dier remained on the bench.
As to which defenders could join Tottenham in January, The Times named Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly as one option.
Kelly is out of contract in January so could be available on a cheaper deal in January, although the Cherries could choose to keep him at the club and then lose him for free.
Tottenham were in for Kelly during the summer but had their offers rebuffed by Bournemouth and have also previously been linked with Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo as another option.
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