Fabrizio Romano claims 28-year-old came ‘really close’ to joining Spurs in January

Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur came ‘really close’ to snapping up Udinese forward Gerard Deulofeu and that the move only fell through because the Spaniard picked up a serious injury.

Tottenham strengthened their forward line with the acquisition of Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal in January and the move seemed to come out of the blue last week, with the Lilywhites reportedly swooping in just before the Dutchman was about to sign for Everton after completing his medical at Goodison Park (The Athletic).

Fabrizio Romano
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TuttoMercatoWeb reported on January 24 that Spurs explored a move for Deulofeu and only turned their attention to Danjuma after failing to strike an agreement with Udinese for the former Watford man.

Tottenham’s interest in the 28-year-old has now been backed up by Romano, who has stated that a deal to take the forward to the North London club was ‘almost done’ before he picked up a serious injury.

Romano has now said on his YouTube channel: “I can reveal, and this is an exclusive name, that Tottenham were considering a move for Gerard Deulofeu, Udinese player. He’s doing incredible in Serie A, had a fantastic first part of the season. He’s already Premier League-proven.

“Deulofeu was really close to Tottenham. From what I heard, the deal was almost done for Deulofeu to join Tottenham. But what happened is that Gerard Deulofeu had a serious injury, and so, he was not available anymore right before joining Tottenham.”

Deulofeu has scored three times and provided seven assists across all competitions so far this season (Transfermarkt) but he sustained a knee injury at the start of last week and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

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It seems like Spurs had identified Deulofeu as an alternative to Nicolo Zaniolo and quickly turned their attention to Danjuma once the Spaniard sustained a serious injury.

That explains why the club swooped for the Dutchman at the last moment just as he was about to sign for Everton. This revelation also makes it less likely that Tottenham will consider taking up the option to sign Danjuma permanently unless he plays out of his skin for the next six months.

Deulofeu has shown glimpses of brilliance at times during his stints at Watford and Everton, however, he is set to turn 29 next year which could see Spurs lose interest – having reportedly failed to follow up their interest in 28-year-old Leandro Trossard after it was said they felt he lacked resale value (The Athletic).

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