Tottenham Transfer News: Pochettino's thoughts, N'Koudou to leave, Rabiot and Almiron in? and more - 25th January, 2019

Welcome to Sportskeeda’s Tottenham Hotspur transfer round-up – your one-stop shop for all of the Spurs transfer news and rumours during the January transfer window.

There’s just under a week to go with the window open now, and with critics claiming Tottenham’s squad is too thin on the ground – particularly after their EFL Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea and a huge glut of injuries to key players – will they bring in any reinforcements?

As always, the following stories are all rumours and reports with nothing actually confirmed as of yet – but you never know, something could pan out in the next few days!

What does Poch think?

While this report from talkSPORT doesn’t really give any concrete links between Tottenham and any potential signings, it’s probably the most important piece of news of the last few days as it’s essentially straight from the horse’s mouth. When asked about the potential to bring in new signings, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino remained pretty coy.

The Argentine stated “I think we are going to explain after 100 times the same, I always say that I am more than open to improve and to add players to the squad.

“That is so clear. You can find on the on the internet, from all of my press conferences, I always say the same. I am more than open.

“Different thing is if we can find the right player who is going to help us to improve the team, the squad. But never was closed, always open.”

So what exactly was he saying? Basically, that Tottenham are open to signing players – but they’ve got to be the right players to fit into his squad and his system, and if they’re not then there’s not much point in looking to fill a squad space up.

Reading between the lines, he’s suggesting that the fans probably shouldn’t read too much into the tons of rumours swirling around right now – and if a signing is coming, it may well be out of left field.

N’Koudou to Besiktas?

Georges-Kevin N'Koudou made a rare appearance against Fulham - but is he on his way out of Spurs?

One report that may have some legs comes from The Express, who are suggesting that winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou could be on his way to Turkish side Besiktas on a six-month loan deal.

Despite a stunning cameo appearance against Fulham last weekend that saw him set up Harry Winks’s winning goal, the Frenchman has been a peripheral figure since joining Spurs in 2016/17. He made just 17 appearances that season, and a loan to Burnley in 2017/18 turned out to be less than productive too.

The report does state that Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has claimed N’Koudou would be needed due to the various injuries around the squad – a claim that was backed up by the Frenchman’s appearance against Fulham – but it’s also a known fact that Spurs need spots in their squad sooner rather than later, and offloading N’Koudou might help.

I’d wager that unless N’Koudou makes more appearances in the next few games, this move to Turkey could well end up coming to pass.

Almiron, Hoffman both on Pochettino’s radar?

Borussia Monchengladbach's Jonas Hofmann is a rumoured replacement for Mousa Dembele

It’s easy to scoff at reports linking Tottenham to huge superstars right now as it’s a pretty well-known fact that the club simply doesn’t have a lot of money to spend due to the development of their new stadium. Lesser names on the other hand, well, as Pochettino says, there’s always possibilities.

TalkSport is reporting on two of those this week; striker Miguel Almiron of Atlanta United and midfielder Jonas Hofmann of Borussia Monchengladbach.

Hofmann is enjoying a great season in the Bundesliga, scoring 5 goals and creating 4 in just 13 appearances, including a hat-trick against Mainz in October. The report suggests he could replace the outgoing Mousa Dembele, and even claims Spurs could pay him in line with their top earners with a six-figure weekly wage.

Almiron meanwhile was a prolific scorer in last season’s MLS campaign, hitting 13 goals and claiming 11 assists in 37 appearances. The Paraguayan is just 25 years old and according to the report, would make the perfect backup for Harry Kane, particularly while the England star is injured.

Almiron would apparently cost around £23m – probably within Tottenham’s budget – and while Newcastle are also linked with the player, it’s not a stretch to say Spurs would be the more desirable destination.

Atlanta have already signed a potential replacement for the player – Pity Martinez – so we’ll have to see where this one goes.

What’s the deal with Adrien Rabiot?

Could Spurs really sign French midfielder Adrien Rabiot?

In one of this week’s biggest transfer stories, Dutch prodigy Frenkie De Jong has been confirmed as moving to Barcelona. So how does that link to Spurs? Well, prior to the move for De Jong, Barca were supposedly looking at signing Paris St. Germain’s Adrien Rabiot. Now that the Spanish giants have gone elsewhere though, Rabiot may be looking for a different destination.

So could that destination end up being Tottenham? Well, a report from HITC – via France Football – claims that Mauricio Pochettino planned to meet with the French midfielder – who has won 16 trophies with PSG and has 6 caps for France – on Wednesday.

How true that is, who knows. What is true is that Rabiot’s PSG contract expires in the summer – meaning he’d probably be available at a cut-price deal, similarly to how Lucas Moura was available last January.

However, given ESPN were reporting that Rabiot was setting his sights higher than Spurs as recently as three weeks ago – with the claim being that the player saw the London club as “below” his standards – then whether he’s a potential signing is anyone’s guess.

Spurs do have a good relationship with PSG, though – having taken Lucas Moura and Serge Aurier from them in recent seasons – so you never know.