Report: Antonio Conte ‘could not persuade’ winger to join Spurs this summer 

The Times have claimed that Tottenham tried to sign Dan James from Leeds this summer but lost out to Fulham in the race for the winger.

Spurs were heavily linked with a move for James in the final days of the transfer window, with Fabrizio Romano reporting just before transfer deadline day that the morth London club had held talks with Leeds over a loan deal for the winger with an option to buy.

However, the winger ended up completing a loan move to Fulham on deadline day and the Lilywhites reportedly decided to block Bryan Gil’s loan move to Valencia as a result of not being able to land a replacement (Domingo Ortiz).

The Times have revealed that Tottenham’s interest in James was genuine, with Conte said to have been keen on adding the former Manchester United man to his squad.

However, it is explained that the Spurs head coach could not persuade the Welsh international to make the switch to N17 since player preferred a move to Craven Cottage.

Spurs Web Opinion

Some Spurs fans seemed puzzled by the club’s rumoured interest in James but we have to keep in mind that Conte was essentially looking for a sixth forward option to take Bryan Gil’s place in the squad.

So, the former Man Utd man would have been a bit-part player, who would have only made a handful of appearances for us off the bench, if we had been successful in signing him.

I understand why James was not too keen on making the switch to Spurs as the 24-year-old has a much better chance of getting regular game time at Fulham, which he probably needs ahead of the World Cup.

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