Tottenham target Ruslan Malinovskyi given ‘farewell’ by manager after social media hint

Conte claims Tottenham's win over Wolves shows progress

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Ruslan Malinovskyi has reportedly been told ‘he can leave’ Atalanta by manager Gian Piero Gasperini with Tottenham sniffing around a potential summer transfer. The Ukrainian stoked the flames of speculation by liking a social media post celebrating Spurs’ win over Wolves on Saturday. 

Malinovskyi is a versatile player who can feature in a variety of midfield positions, but most of his time at Atalanta has been spent fulfilling an attacking brief. While that has churned out decent results for both player and club, with 10 goal contributions in 30 league matches last term, it would seem that Gasperini is not entirely happy. 

This week, the Atalanta boss said: “Malinovskyi had arrived as a director adapting to the tip of [Josip] Ilicic, but it is right that Atalanta choose a more suitable player in the transfer market.

“We spent years chasing an element with Josip’s characteristics. Ruslan is very good but in that attacking role he is adapted despite having done excellent things. But he remains a midfielder. “

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La Repubblica claim that Gasperini’s comments effectively serve as a ‘farewell’ for Malinovskyi, who joined from Genk in 2019. Other reports from Italy indicate that Spurs are interested in the Ukrainian and they could introduce out-of-favour Spaniard Sergio Reguilon as part of negotiations. 

Malinovskyi added an extra element to the saga by scoring the opener for Atalanta on Sunday in a 1-1 draw with AC Milan. After the game, he made a cryptic social media post captioned ‘God’s plan’ with a photo of him cupping both ears in celebration.

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“Malinovskyi had arrived as a director adapting to the tip of Ilicic, but it is right that Atalanta choose a more suitable player in the transfer market,” said Gasperini.

He was one of the best players on the pitch against Milan with four shots registered and all of his tackles won by half time. It could be that the 29-year-old is fighting for his future in Serie A as his partner, Roskana Malinovska, recently spilled the beans on their situation in a since-deleted social media post. 

“Bergamo is our home and we don’t have one, but football and life are united things,” she said. “For me there is nothing more important than Ruslan’s family and career. If he cannot stay at Atalanta, he must find another solution. And for us it is a pity, but it’s the life of football and he has to think about his future as a professional footballer.”

There are also other signs that things could soon kick up a notch as Malinovskyi sparked curiosity by liking a post marking Spurs’ recent win over Wolves. Antonio Conte has shown a tendency to dip into the Serie A market having tied up deals for Destiny Udogie and Ivan Perisic this summer. 

Tottenham may need another body in midfield amid rumours linking Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to Real Madrid. Los Blancos are on the lookout for a steadying midfield presence after losing Casemiro to Manchester United. 

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