Tottenham could be set to bolster their midfield ranks in the coming weeks as reports claim they have joined Barcelona and Napoli in the race to land a star from the World Cup. It comes as Antonio Conte has bemoaned the gap between his side and those challenging at the top of the Premier League.
Spurs currently find themselves fifth, five points off the top four as their good start to the season has begun to slip away from them and bad habits creep in. There has been plenty of discontent in wake of poor results, with home fans booing the latest loss, to Aston Villa, a 2-0 home defeat on New Year's Day.
"To become a title contender, to become a team ready to fight to win something you need to have a solid foundation," Antonio Conte said on his squad.
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"That means to have 14 or 15 strong players, quality and the other young players to develop. And [then] every season you can add two players but two players to invest £50m, £60m, £70m and in this way it means you are signing important players that improve quality and the level of your team but this is a process guys. It's a process."
The January window offers a perfect chance for some fresh players to add their energy to the squad and Conte will not want to waste another market opportunity. In light of that, there's been plenty of rumours surrounding a number of targets, with the latest of those being midfielder Azzedine Ounahi from Angers.
That's according to La Repubblica, who claim Spurs are interested in a move for the Morocco international in the window. Teams such as Napoli, Barcelona and Leicester have all been linked after an impressive World Cup with his nation that saw them reach the semi-finals in Qatar.
It does, however, beg the question of where Oliver Skipp fits into Conte's plans. The 22-year-old picked up a foot injury earlier this season that saw him out for over a month and the impressive performances of Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg have given him little room to make a push to secure a place in the side, with Yves Bissouma also above him in the pecking order.
Should Ounahi join, it could see Skipp fall further down the pecking order and may not allow him to progress the way he would have expected to.
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