If all goes according to plan, it’s really goodbye to Eric Dier, 29. Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou (58) has identified a new central defender.
“Spurs have set their sights on the £13 million defender, who has been compared to Mickey van der Vaart,” says The Boot Room in the UK. Postecoglou wants to bring in Lloyd Kelly, 25, who plays for Bournemouth.”레모나토토
“Tottenham are looking to strengthen their defense in the January transfer window. Postecoglou really wants Kelly. At the moment, Spurs have an excellent duo in Christian Romero and Van der Vaart, but they lack depth. With that in mind, Kelly would be a great signing.”
Kelly is a 6-foot-2 center back with big stature and quick feet. He has plenty of Premier League experience, having played for Bournemouth since 2019.
Tottenham were linked with a move for Kelly last summer, as he is out of contract with Bournemouth at the end of the season. However, Spurs reportedly had a £20 million bid rejected.
However, Postecoglou has not given up and will try again. Bournemouth are also likely to let Kelly go as this is their last chance to secure a transfer fee.
“If Kelly doesn’t re-sign, Bournemouth will sell him to recoup some money,” says The Boot Room. If Spurs wait until the summer, they could get him for free. “Tottenham aren’t the only ones after him, there are a lot of other teams out there. It’s going to be a tough battle for him.”
It’s clear why Tottenham want Kelly. They currently only have one backup center back, Dier. He’s already on Postecoglou’s radar, and he gave away a goal against Wolverhampton last time out
On top of that, Kelly is a speedster with one of the best speeds in the Premier League. According to football statistics site Squawka, he reached a top speed of 35.42 km/h last season, making him the second-fastest center back behind Christopher Aymer (35.53 km/h). This is similar to van der Vaan’s top speed this season (35.5 km/h).
Best of all, bringing in Kelly would also clear the way for the club to offload Dier in the January transfer window. Dyer is currently attracting interest from Bayern Munich. The Bavarians, who are looking for a backup defender to Kim Min-jae, are reportedly targeting him due to his low transfer fee and versatility.
However, Tottenham cannot let Dyer go without a plan. With van der Vaart not returning from his hamstring injury until January at the earliest, if they don’t bring in a new face to replace him, they’ll have no choice but to hold onto Dyer. This makes the signing of Kelly all the more urgent for Postecoglou.