Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a boost in their bid to bring Ruslan Malinovskyi to the Premier League in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet Calciomercato (via Sport Witness), who claim that, having been heavily linked with a move for the Atalanta BC attacking midfielder this summer, Fabio Paratici and Antonio Conte could now land the 29-year-old for a figure of €15m (£13m) in January.
The report goes on to state that, having been pushed to the side by Gian Piero Gasperini this season, the Serie A outfit are happy to let the Ukraine international leave the club this winter in order to pick up a fee for the playmaker – whose current deal at the Gewiss Stadium is set to expire next summer.
Absolute steal
With it being widely reported that Conte is hoping to add a more forward-thinking midfielder to his current options in the middle of the park in January, coupled with just how impressive Malinovskyi has been for Atalanta in recent seasons, it is not difficult to understand why the Tottenham would be keen on a move for the 29-year-old this winter.
Indeed, over Malinovskyi’s 30 Serie A fixtures last time out, the £17.5m-rated talent was in sensational form going forwards, scoring six goals, providing four assists and creating 13 big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.9 shots, making 1.5 key passes and completing 1.6 dribbles per game.
These returns saw the player who Carlo Garganese dubbed “unreal” average a simply astonishing SofaScore match rating of 7.22, not only ranking him as Atalanta’s second-best performer in the league but also as the joint 18th-best player in the top flight of Italian football as a whole.
Furthermore, with the £22k-per-week playmaker also possessing extremely impressive positional versatility – being able to operate in defensive, central and attacking midfield, as well as at right or left wing-back and even as a centre-forward – Malinovskyi could easily fit into either of Conte’s 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 set-ups in north London.
As such, considering his clear attacking inclination, his ability to play in a number of different roles and the fact he looks to be available for a fee roughly £4.5m less than his current market valuation, should Paratici manage to get a deal over the line for Malinovskyi in January, it would very much appear as if the Italian will have sealed an absolute steal.
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