Tottenham close in on Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus for a combined fee of £53 after hattrick of transfer misses

Tottenham have signed Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus for £33m and £20 respectively. The pair will join former Juve bosses Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici in London after they missed out on signing Luis Diaz, Adama Traore, and Franck Kessie. Kulusevski will join on loan with an obligation to buy after a number of Premier League and UEFA Champions League appearances. Bentancur will sign a permanent deal immediately.

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Kulusevski, while highly rated in Serie A, failed to live up to his big-money move from Atalanta (a common theme for some reason) despite being one of the hottest properties in world football during the 19/20 season when he was on loan at Parma.

The 21-year-old Swedish forward has blown hot and cold in Turin, with Max Allegri and Andrea Pirlo using him off the bench. He will give Tottenham the able right-wing forward that Conte needs right now and Juventus need the money after snapping up Dusan Vlahovic.

Moving forward

Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur will also join him in London. The 24-year-old has been a part of the Old Lady’s setup since 2017 when he joined from Boca Juniors. While he can set and control the midfield, he has never offered more. He does not get goals and assists, plus he is still capable of dangerous giveaways in dangerous areas.

However, with Tanguy Ndombele heading back to Lyon after a terrible spell in England, Tottenham have swooped in for Bentancur, who rejected interest from Aston Villa. Maybe Conte, a world-class coach that breathes life into anything, can make something more useful from him.

Tottenham have hired a world-class coach, but they struggled to attract world-class player for him to utilize. They could not bring in transfer targets like Diaz, Traore, and Kessie to appease the Italian manager. He only lost his first league game as Tottenham boss against Chelsea after going nine games unbeaten in the Premier League, showing he is here to compete. Those wins have dragged Tottenham to within a touching distance of a UEFA Champions League spot.