Fabio Paratici defended for handling of Tottenham transfer business as two deals labelled inevitable

Fabio Paratici has been defended for his handling of Tottenham’s transfer business because he was helpless in two missed deals.

Spurs suffered several knock backs in the winter window. Sought after striker Dusan Vlahovic headed to Juventus, long-time target Adama Traore joined Barcelona on loan, and Liverpool beat them to the signing of highly-rated Porto winger Luis Diaz.

The list doesn’t stop there, because a deal for Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat fell through too.

It doesn’t make for good reading for the club’s hierarchy. They did soften those blows by bringing in Juventus pair Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, though.

The double swoop of Paratici’s former club was labelled by some as desperate.

But Tottenham pundit John Wenham believes the director of football will have conducted himself as professionally as possible.

He told Football Insider: “It’s the way Paratici works. We saw this over the summer. He works on 10 deals at once sometimes, which is incredible.

Give our social media channels a follow – we’re on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

“You see so many names inked with us. And that’s probably because Paratici has shown interest in them at some point.

“Just look at the deal for Amrabat. The poor guy was all set to come and then it was over just like that.

“Then we had Bentancur and Kulusevski arrive really quickly, it was a bit chaotic.

“I don’t think it was a rush. I think it was that we had a lot of irons in the fire.

“There has been criticism of Paratici’s way of working but I don’t think there was much that could be done to stop Adama Traore going to Barcelona or Luis Diaz going to Liverpool.”

Meanwhile, reports have claimed Chelsea ‘pressed the most’ for the deadline day signing of Ousmane