Journalist names two Nicolo Zaniolo midfield alternatives who Spurs could consider

Roma midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo has been on Tottenham’s radar for the best part of a year, with the North Londoners said to have been keen on signing the 20-year-old last summer (Mirror).

While reports initially indicated that Spurs were set to return for the Italian international’s services when the transfer window opened (Leggo), it was claimed last week that the club had decided not to follow up their interest in the midfielder due to Roma’s £62million asking price (TEAMtalk).

Football.London’s Adam Newson has now suggested that two alternatives Spurs could potentially go for if Zaniola is out of their reach – Udinese’s Rodrigo de Paul and Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner.

By crunching the data on Twenty3lab, the report revealed that De Paul and Baumgartner both have a similar attacking output to Zaniolo.

De Paul has gone from strength the strength during his time Udinese is now approaching the peak of his career.

However, he is someone who plays slightly deeper than Zaniolo and prefers to conduct play rather than making an impact in the final third.

Baumgartner has impressed since breaking into the Hoffenheim side, and like Zaniolo, he is quite direct and capable of making a difference in the final third.

However, he is also a raw talent who has only had one full season of top-flight football.

Spurs Web Opinion

It does look like we missed out on our big chance of signing Zaniolo last summer but I suspect we might not have got Lo Celso had we signed the Italian. De Paul could potentially be just as expensive as Zaniolo and he has a similar profile to many of the midfielders we already have at the club.

Baumgartner has a lot more to prove before he is ready to make the step up to a club like Spurs. So, I do not believe that either player would be a smart alternative to Zaniolo. We are likely going to end up signing a free agent like Willian or Fraiser this summer due to our financial issues.

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