Over the weekend it was reported in England that Real Madrid could be getting an approach from Tottenham soon over signing Mateo Kovacic.
Those claims have inevitably made their way to Spain, and Catalan newspaper Sport have used them to stir the pot further at Real Madrid. Sport reckon that the only way Madrid would let Kovacic join Tottenham for less than his €26m buyout clause is if it was part of talks for Dele Alli.
That’s a very unlikely scenario, and Madrid having any interest in Alli is something which has been mainly pushed in England. In Spain they’ve covered the odd English rumour, but barely given it much attention, suggesting there’s no genuine interest.
However, it is interesting that Kovacic may be available. The original English claims stated Spurs would try and get the player’s price down, but that’s unlikely given Madrid would have to replace the Croatian and doing so would cost more.
Kovacic has played 25 games for Real Madrid so far this season and is clearly a used member of Zine dine Zidane’s squad. Should Mauricio Pochettino be interested then it’s likely Tottenham would have to pay the full clause.
But given that Kovacic is still only 22 years of age, despite being very experienced, it doesn’t sound too bad a deal.
