Tottenham Hotspur are reported to be looking at a number of potential signings in January with Mainz striker Jean-Philippe Mateta said to be one of the club’s primary targets (Daily Mail).
The 22-year-old enjoyed an impressive 2018/19 campaign, netting fourteen times for the Bundesliga club last season (tranfermarkt.com). The Frenchman picked up a knee injury in preseaon that has ruled him out of action so far this campaign but that supposedly isn’t deterring Spurs from pursuing the striker.
Sport Bild (as relayed by 90min) reported a couple of weeks ago that Mauricio Pochettino has personally called Mateta to convince him to make the move to North London.
However, it has now emerged that Mateta is becoming rather unpopular at Mainz due to his attitude in training. Bild (as relayed by Foot Mercato) report that both Mateta and defender Moussa Niakhate have recently refused to perform tasks in training, such as carrying water.
It is alleged that the pair are also dominating the dressing room with music that irritates other players. It is claimed that several of Mainz’s senior stars are becoming frustrated with Mateta and Niakhate over their recent behaviour.
Spurs Web Opinion
Mateta seems like the perfect option for Spurs given his age, potential and physicality. However, we know that Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t like players with a poor attitude and so it will be interesting to see if this puts Spurs off. Given the recent reports about disharmony in the dressing room, the last thing we need at the moment is to add more toxic characters to the squad.
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