By support

23rd Jan, 2017 | 8:08am

Tottenham eye swoop for Serie A teenage goal machine - report

By Matt Farr

Tottenham are taking a keen interest in Italian teenage goalscorer Andrea Pinamonti, according to a report in Italy.

Calcio Mercato claim that the 17-year-old Inter Milan striker is the latest name to emerge on the Tottenham radar, and that they are ready to do battle with Premier League rivals Chelsea for his signature.

Pinamonti has been in superb goalscoring form for Inter’s youth side, netting 15 goals from just 18 appearances this season.

He made his first-team debut for Inter during the club’s Europa League campaign, playing 80 minutes as the Italian club defeated Sparta Prague in early December.

Inter are understood not to want to lose the highly-rated striker, and are preparing a five-year contract, but the youngster could be open to a potential move away from San Siro in a bid to continue his development.

The Italy U19 international is unlikely to have much of a role to play in the first-team squad in the near future, after the club’s owners promised big signings, and competition for places will be tough.

Head coach Stefano Pioli already has four established strikers in his first-team, including Mauro Icardi and Gabriel Barbosa; while forward Stevan Jovetic could return to the club at the end of the season following his loan spell with Sevilla.

Tottenham, meanwhile, could offer him a more direct route to the first team, and Mauricio Pochettino is known as a manager who will give youth a chance.

Harry Kane is the club’s leading man, but Pochettino and Tottenham need more cover for the England star, with summer signing Vincent Janssen failing to impress.

The report also claims that Tottenham have been in talks with Inter over a potential deal for defender Andrea Ranocchia, with Mauricio Pochettino looking to provide cover for the injured Jan Vertonghen, who is likely to miss six weeks with an ankle injury.

Football Insider verdict

It is difficult to judge Pinamonti’s talent given his lack of appearances for the first-team. But if he is attracting interest from the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham, he must be doing something right. Tottenham are desperate to add another attacker to their ranks, because if Harry Kane suffers an injury, Vincent Janssen has shown little to suggest he can fill the void. Therefore, Tottenham and Pochettino should consider a move for Pinamonti. He is clearly rated highly in Italy, and could be a potential future star; but he needs the game-time to be able to hit the top level, and so far he is yet to get that at Inter Milan. 

In other Tottenham transfer news, reports suggest that Spurs have also lined up Malaga’s Sandro Ramirez in their hunt for a striker.

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