By all indications, Tottenham Hotspur have lost out to Brentford in the race to sign Antonio Nusa this month, but that isn’t stopping the Lilywhites from continuing their attempts to land their target.
Up until the weekend, it seemed Tottenham were closing in on a deal to sign Nusa from Club Brugge for €30m (£25.7m), with the youngster set to remain on loan with the Belgian club until the end of the season (The Athletic).
A number of other Premier League clubs joined Spurs in the hunt for the talented winger, Arsenal, Liverpool (Football.London), Newcastle United (Football Insider), West Ham (Sport Lens) and Chelsea (The Guardian) all rumoured to be watching Nusa.
However, seemingly out of nowhere, Brentford stole in and all but wrapped up an agreement with both Brugge and the player this weekend, according to Fabrizio Romano.
It is thought Nusa himself would prefer the move to Brentford now, as the Bees have offered him assurances over his chances of first team football that Spurs simply could not match (Football.London).
Spurs won’t give up on Antonio Nusa
But, the chase isn’t over just yet, and Spurs are not giving up. That’s according to Belgian journalist, Pieter-Jan Calcoen, who claims the Lilywhites are one of three other Premier League clubs still monitoring the situation.
He said: “Update [on] Nusa: in addition to Brentford, Tottenham, Chelsea and Newcastle United are also lurking. Those clubs are not giving up, which is attractive for Club Brugge. The price will be above €30m.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I could not believe it when I saw that we had been outdone by Brentford on this deal, but I do understand Nusa’s thinking to be fair. He would find it very tough at Spurs to get regular game time, at least for the next couple of years, so maybe developing at Brentford would suit him better at this age.