Jose Mourinho could help Tottenham seal next transfer target
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Jose Mourinho’s fractious relationship with Chris Smalling could help Tottenham land one of their top defensive targets this summer. According to reports in Italy, Spurs are interested in signing the Roma defender, having run into difficulties with Atalanta’s Cristian Romero.
Tottenham’s transfer window has picked up pace in the past few weeks, with director of football Fabio Paratici pulling the strings.
Erik Lamela has been offloaded to Sevilla as part of a swap deal for Byran Gil, Atalanta goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini has been signed on an initial loan, while Paulo Gazzaniga and Danny Rose have been released.
Central defence is now a clear priority for Spurs after close to £25million has been raised from the sales of Juan Foyth and Toby Alderweireld.
Their departures have left Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier and Joe Rodon as the only senior centre back options at the club.
Bologna’s Takehiro Tomiyasu appeared to be set for a £15m move to north London a few weeks back, but it seems Paratici is keeping several plates spinning.
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Negotiations over Atalanta defender Romero have been ongoing for some time now, with conflicting reports as to their progression.
Spurs have been pursuing a deal for the 23-year-old Argentina defender, but with Atalanta demanding £46m (€55m) for his signature, Calciomercato says they also have an interest in former Manchester United man Smalling.
That is where Mourinho comes in. The Portuguese quickly landed the Roma job when he was sacked by Spurs back in April, meaning his former club will have to deal with him if they want to sign Smalling.
Luckily, Mourinho’s previous dealings with Smalling may suggest he is open to negotiating his exit.
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To put it bluntly, Mourinho has never been the biggest fan of Smalling: their relationship during his spell as United manager was uncomfortable at best.
Smalling played in United’s Europa League final win over Ajax in 2017, helping secure Mourinho this third and final trophy with the club. However, his performance still became the butt of a joke from his manager.
“I told my players that for me, beautiful is not giving our opponents what they want,” Mourinho later explained to Expresso of his approach in that game.
“I even joked with Smalling, ‘With your feet, we’re for sure not playing out from the back!”
That wasn’t the first run-in, either. Back in April 2017, Mourinho felt the need to publicly call out the severity of Smalling’s injury problems, describing his mentalities as “cautious, cautious, cautious”.
“It’s not just about them,” he said. “It’s about the philosophy and mentality around them.”
It later emerged that Smalling had played with a broken toe, taking two pain-killer injections just to get through a 4-0 defeat by Chelsea that season.
Smalling has suggested it is all water under the bridge and Mourinho will surely have made a conscious effort to repair the relationship.
“He is a born winner,” Smalling told BBC Sport earlier in July. “He likes to push everyone to the limits. That is what he has done throughout his career and it has reaped results.”
If Spurs are after Smalling’s signature, then Paratici will be hoping Mourinho’s previous comments might drive the English defender back to the Premier League.
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