Slowly but surely, Armel Bella-Kotchap has become a regular at VfL Bochum this season, starting and finishing the last nine Bundesliga games for his club.
At 20 years of age, he’s seen as an up and coming prospect at centre-back, which has caught the eye of a few Premier League clubs, including Tottenham, helped by the fact he’s just shy of 6’3”.
Spurs bolstered the position in the summer with the arrival of Cristian Romero from Atalanta thanks to Fabio Paratici’s connections, but there is a feeling they could do with a bit more depth in the role, especially when taking into account the fact Antonio Conte prefers to play with three at the back.
Bild have an article on Bella-Kotchap, claiming that the youngster ‘should one day bring in a lot of money’ for Bochum, and ‘it could be this summer’.
One of the main reasons stopping the defender from moving to England, being born in France, but choosing to play for Germany’s U21s so far, was the work permit situation.
Well, according to the newspaper, Bella-Kotchap ‘only recently achieved’ the ability to qualify for one through the points system thanks to ‘his appearances in the Bundesliga and the U21 national team’.
Bochum, who would probably like to keep him if they could, know they can make a lot of money from him, and Bild claim they ‘would let their homegrown talent go for a transfer fee of at least €10m’, which would instantly make him the most expensive sale in the club’s history.
That current record is held by Theofanis Gekas, who went to Bayer Leverkusen for €4.7m back in 2007, but the player has made it clear ‘wants to give something back to his club as a thank you for the trust’, desiring to ‘talk to Bochum soon and clarify his future’.
With the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Crystal Palace reportedly interested over the past two years, an exit shouldn’t be too difficult, but we’ll have to wait and see if Spurs make the move, as it all depends on what Conte wants going forward.
