Tottenham now eyeing January move to sign £20m defender ahead of Barcelona

Tottenham are looking to get ahead of Barcelona in the race to sign a new target for Ange Postecolgou in the January transfer window, according to a fresh report from Spain.

Tottenham draw 2-2 with Wolves

Spurs failed to record a first Premier League win in three on Sunday, drawing 2-2 at home to Wolves. Tottenham came from behind thanks to goals from Rodrigo Bentancur and Brennan Johnson, however, Jorgen Strand Larsen’s late equaliser made it just one point from nine in the last seven days.

The result leaves Tottenham in the bottom half at the halfway stage of the season, with the club miles away from challenging for European football next campaign.

Fortunately, with the January transfer window just around the corner, Tottenham will have the chance to strengthen their squad as they look for a better second half of the campaign, with Postecoglou keen to add new blood to his ranks in the next month.

Ahead of the Nottingham Forest defeat, the Australian coach explained: “Like I said a while ago, we’ve been planning. A lot of it was going to be around where we’re at around this time. [It’s] fair to say we’re still a little bit short in a couple of areas and we need to reinforce.”

A defender and a new forward are reportedly on their wishlist, and now they may have found a new option to bolster their backline.

Tottenham in race for defender who could leave in January

Spurs have been linked with moves for the likes of Ben Godfrey and Abdukodir Khusanov already ahead of the January transfer window, but have now been handed another, more unlikely name.

Now, a report from Spain has claimed that Tottenham are now in the mix with Barcelona and several other clubs around Europe to land Rayo Vallecano defender Andrei Ratiu

in January, with the defender “very likely to leave” the La Liga side in January.

Though Ratiu is under contract until 2028, the report claims that the defender is set to leave this winter after a string of impressive performances. An international teammate of current Spurs defender Radu Dragusin, Ratiu has a €25m [£20.7m] release clause in his deal in Spain, which the report suggests could be triggered this winter.

Alongside Barcelona and Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma are all named as potential destinations, with Barcelona reportedly having an advantage due to strong agent relations. However, the Catalan club currently have no money to sign new players in January, already struggling to register summer signing Dani Olmo for the second half of the season, leaving them an unlikely destination for the 26-year-old.

Despite that, a move to Tottenham seems equally far-fetched unless there is an exit from north London, with Ratiu’s 16 appearances this season having all come at right back, where Spurs are already well-stocked with Pedro Porro and Djed Spence, while Archie Gray also spent much of his Leeds career at fullback.

Therefore, though a transfer may be likely for the Romanian defender, it seems unlikely that it will be to north London this January, with a centre-back likely to be far more of a priority for Postecoglou and co given their current situation.