Postecoglou pushing Tottenham hard towards reunion with £160k-per-week former Celtic attacker

Tottenham Hotspur are at the front of the queue for Everton and Brentford target Jota, with the Portuguese attacker set to exit Al-Ittihad in January, sources have told TEAMtalk.

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou is keen to reunite with his former Celtic player after Al-Ittihad told him to look for a new club.

Agents representing Jota are working hard to find him a new side come 2024 and have been in contact with a number of Premier League clubs to establish the best option for him in January.

Brentford and Everton are among those who have shown strong interest, but we understand it is Tottenham who are now favourites to land his signature.

An intermediary representing Gestifute, Jota’s agency, was present for last week’s north London derby and has attended a handful of games so far this season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

There has been major pressure on Al-Ittihad from their own supporters to give local Saudi players the opportunity to play and Jota has been frozen out. He is seen as a dispensable figure unlike superstar teammates such as Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante and, as a result, the 24-year-old is expecting to move on in the coming months.

Discussions are ongoing over the best pathway for an exit with some conversations about a mutual contract termination taking place. Sources state that Al-Ittihad would be keen to recoup a fee in the region of £20million for their £160,000 per week winger.

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Tottenham chasing attacking reinforcements

Attacking reinforcements are top of Postecoglou’s wish list with Spurs aiming to bring in at least two new players to bolster their forward options in 2024.

Since the departure of club legend Harry Kane, Spurs have played Son Heung-min as a No 9 and would like further back up for the South Korea international. To that end, we have revealed that Spurs are also in the race to sign the Bundesliga top scorer Serhou Guirassy.

Jota is very much on the radar too and looks destined to fulfil only three months of his three-year-deal in Saudi Arabia. Should Spurs make a move, they would be in an extremely strong position to land him in January.

However, the race is still open, and Jorge Mendes and his team are working hard to find the best solution for all parties in the coming months.

During his two seasons at Celtic, Jota won five trophies under Postecoglou including the domestic treble during the 2022/23 campaign. Since his move to Saudi Arabia, he has made only five appearances, scoring a single goal during a 3-0 victory over Al-Wehda in August.

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