A report has revealed how Tottenham Hotspur beat Nottingham Forest, Wolves and two Serie A sides to sign Alejo Veliz from Rosario Central this summer.
Veliz, the only centre-forward signed by Tottenham in the summer, sold Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, but due to his age, there is no pressure on the Argentine addition to immediately succeed the England captain.
However, Veliz is starting to attract more and more attention from Ange Postecoglou in training, which has led to him appearing as a substitute in Tottenham’s last two Premier League games.
Now, The Athletic has published an article focusing on Veliz’s affair with a Tottenham player, confirming that Nottingham Forest, Wolves, AC Milan and Roma were ahead of him for a signing.
Interestingly, it is also stated in the report that Fabio Paratici played an advisory role in the transfer, despite leaving his position as Tottenham’s general director of football (due to a FIFA ban) 4 months before Veliz arrived at Spurs.
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In the end, Tottenham were offered the £13m deal and they hope it will prove to be cash well spent in the long run. Veliz, 20, has a long-term contract until 2029, so this may be just the first of six seasons in north London for the South American star.
Right now, players like the underperforming Richarlison, new captain Son Heung-min and compatriot Brennan Johnson are on their way to the game.
There is no European football on offer at Tottenham this season and they are already out of the Carabao Cup, which would possibly have been a way for Postecoglou to include Veliz in the line-up, but it turns out there is great confidence that he will do well.
We’ll never know if he could have progressed at another speed at any of the other clubs that were waiting for him, but time is on his side as he looks to work his way up to becoming a vital component of the team. Tottenham’s allocation for the future.
He is also eligible to play for his U21 national team, as he already did in the EFL Trophy this season, giving him another way to expand if there is less room for him without delay in Postecoglou’s plans for the senior team.
But it turns out that the Australian tactician is temporarily realising Veliz’s potential and has Paratici to thank for, even though they never technically worked for Tottenham at the same time.
As for the clubs Veliz could have gone to, Forest signed Anthony Elanga and Divock Origi, Milan got Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor, and Roma added Romelu Lukaku and Sardar Azmoun. Meanwhile, the Wolves were only going to turn Matheus Cunha’s loan to Atletico Madrid into a permanent deal.
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