Transfer Window- Tottenham Hotspur closing in on signing Adama Traore

Adama Traore has been a target for Tottenham Hotspur for a while now. And there is optimism in the camp now that a deal between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Spurs can be struck. The Lilywhites had shown interest in the player when Nuno Espirito Santo was in charge at the club. The interest, however, remains the same despite the change in management to Antonio Conte.

It is reported that Spurs had a bid of £15 million for the Spaniard rejected last week. Wolves consider his valuation to be more and expect a bid of £25 million to be placed in order to proceed with the deal. However, the latest developments suggest that a negotiable fee can be reached between the clubs before the transfer window shuts down next week.

Adama Traore is closing on his move to Tottenham Hotspur

The 25-year-old winger is an academy graduate of Barcelona. After playing for over 10 years with the club’s academy, Traore got promoted to the club’s reserve team in 2013. He regularly played for the B-team and could only make four appearances for the club’s first team. Two years later, he was signed by the Premier League side, Aston Villa.

He had a bright start to his English life but it came crashing soon. Traore was dropped from the team due to his indiscipline. As a result of which, he was sold to Middlesbrough the next season in a swap deal for Albert Adomah. Adama Traore had a successful period here as he appeared regularly for the club. He won the club’s Fans’ Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year award during his second and final season with The Boro.

In 2018, he made his move to the newly promoted Wolves which eventually produced his best tenure. He became a physical specimen and together with his exploding pace and skills, he was a menace on the wings. His presence has contributed immensely to the club achieving decent finishes in Premier League. However, the 2021/22 season has been a rough period for him. His performance has seen a dip and he has failed to contribute to a goal in the past 18 appearances.

Despite the setbacks, Spurs are still interested in him and they feel that his creativity can be fully utilized at their club. Traore will be out of contract in 2023, but the club wants him to stay longer and they even have a new 15 months deal ready for him. However, the club won’t worry him about it, if a deal, which is expected to be £20 million, can be negotiated between the clubs.

If the move happens, it is to be seen what kind of a role he will be playing. He is definitely not going to replace their star duo of Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son. Their clutch time hero, Steven Bergwijn has attracted interest from Ajax. Traore could be used as his replacement and fight for his spot alongside Lucas Moura in case he leaves. Traore could also be experimented as a wing-back at Tottenham Hotspur as his speed and strength could give them an extraordinary advantage.

Antonio Conte had mentioned that this transfer window alone cannot shape the club in his image. He expects more successful transfers if they expect Tottenham to reach the levels of the top-3 clubs. However, if the Traore deal happens, it can be considered as their first step to their success. Conte is also keen on strengthening his squad further and would love to recruit a midfielder at the club before the January window closes. 

Tournament	Appearances	Goals	Assists	Passing accuracy	Man of the Match	Rating
Premier League	10(10)	1	–	77.9%	4	6.94
League Cup	0(2)	–	–	85.7 %	–	6.64