Paratici plotting Spurs bid for "extraordinary" £80m sensation, Arteta will be fuming - opinion

Tottenham Hotspur remain interested in a deal to bring Josko Gvardiol to the Premier League this summer.

That’s according to reports via The Express, who claim that, despite Spurs’ earlier capture of Barcelona’s Clement Lenglet on a season-long loan, Fabio Paratici remains interested in the RB Leipzig centre-back – for whom the Bundesliga side are believed to be demanding a figure in the region of £80m to part with this summer.

However, a further report by Media Foot recently claimed is it Arsenal who are leading the race for the Croatia international’s signature, with Mikel Arteta believed to consider the 20-year-old a perfect replacement for Gabriel – who has been linked with a €30m (£25.5m) move to Juventus.

Considering the sheer amount of potential Gvardiol undoubtedly possesses, it is easy to see why both Tottenham and Arsenal would be interested in a deal to bring the Leipzig starlet to north London ahead of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

Indeed, over his 29 Bundesliga appearances in 2021/22, the £102m-rated talent was a rock in the heart of Domenico Tedesco’s defence, helping Die Roten Bullen keep seven clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.8 interceptions, 1.6 tackles, 1.9 clearances and winning 5.9 duels – at a success rate of 58% – per game.

The £21k-per-week defender also impressed in an attacking capacity, scoring two goals, registering two assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, in addition to completing an average of 59.3 passes, 3.4 long balls, 1.3 dribbles and taking 0.8 shots per fixture.

These returns saw the player who Ivica Olic dubbed “extraordinary” average a quite astonishing SofaScore match rating of 7.10, ranking him as Leipzig’s fourth-best performer in the top