This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Tottenham are interested in Real Madrid’s Isco, according to Spanish outlet El Desmarque.
What’s the story?
Spurs have been linked with several creative midfielders in the last few weeks, such as Paulo Dybala and Bruno Fernandes, and now it appears they have set their sights on the Spanish midfielder.
When fit, the 27-year-old has often been an important player for Los Blancos, evidenced by his best return of 10 goals and eight assists in the 2016/17 La Liga season, having signed for the club for £23m in 2013.
Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
With Christian Eriksen setting his sights elsewhere, it is a deal which could make sense for both clubs, although Real Madrid hold all the cards considering the Dane’s contract situation.
Bayern Munich are also believed to be interested in Isco, and that could make things more complicated for Tottenham, though it is a deal which may not work out too well anyway.
Repeating past mistakes
Whilst the Spain international has improved his quality in a Real Madrid shirt, with 48 goals and 52 assists in 280 appearances for the club, his time in the capital has often been blighted by injury, and that should be a big concern for Spurs.
Considering their budget constraints in comparison to the rest of the top-six, and their much lower wage bill, they simply can’t afford for their highest-paid players to be sidelined too often, and Isco would fit into that category.
In Erik Lamela they have a similarly gifted, technical midfielder, but a player who has spent far too much time on the treatment table in recent years.
The Argentine has suffered with hip problems regularly since the 2016/17 campaign, first ruling him out for 57 matches before other niggles meant he only started 14 games last year.
Isco has similar problems, often picking up minor injuries which have a worrying long-term impact on his side, as he takes time to recover his fitness and match sharpness each time he makes a comeback. That in turn limits his influence, with six goals and one assist since the start of last season.
He has already missed a month of this term, and made only 17 starts in 2018/19, and therefore he cannot be relied upon to act as a replacement for Eriksen on a consistent basis – much like Lamela.