Postecoglou could land Kulusevski & Bentancur 2.0 with Spurs double swoop for £38m duo

In the January window, Ange Postecoglou and company can once again plunder the Italian market.

Regarding Tottenham Hotspur’s recruiting in the past, there has been a recurring pattern: the Lilywhites have often searched Italy for possible diamonds that have the ability to succeed in English football.

In the past, the north London team, led by sporting director Fabio Paratici and under Antonio Conte, made headlines by signing players like Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie from Atalanta and Udinese, respectively. The latter player just joined the team this summer.

Even under Ange Postecoglou, the team went back to Serie A in the most recent transfer window to sign goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli. According to Sky Sports analyst Jamie Carragher, the relatively unknown player is already proving to be a great “revelation” in the Premier League.

However, in January 2022, one of the most noteworthy transactions involving Spurs and an Italian team occurred when Conte and Paratici successfully executed a double swoop to acquire Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus.

With Kulusevski having just recently signed a permanent contract after an 18-month loan, Postecoglou may be following in the footsteps of his predecessor and planning another attack on the Old Lady in 2024 given the success of that high-profile acquisition.

News about Spurs transfers

Tottenham is reportedly interested in acquiring Matias Soule and Samuel Iling-Junior from the Turin giants. A report from Spain earlier this week said that the club was planning a “double offer” for the two players in January.

Even if Newcastle United may show interest in Postecoglou and company, they will presumably be looking to get an early advantage over their top-flight competitors before the window opens in little over a week.

According to the article, Max Allegri values Soule, who is now on loan at another Serie A team Frosinone, at around €25 million (£22 million). Iling-Junior, another young player, is probably worth closer to €18 million (£16 million), based on a previous report from TuttoMercatoWeb.

Spending over £38 million to acquire the 20-year-old players might potentially be a cost-effective decision for Postecoglou, as they want to follow in the footsteps of Kulusevski and Bentancur at N17.

The record of Kulusevski and Bentancur at Tottenham

In Bentancur’s situation, it’s fair to say that injuries have hampered his stay in England so far. The Uruguayan player most famously missed a significant portion of 2023 due to an ACL injury he suffered back in February.

Nonetheless, the playmaker has excelled in the center of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium midfield while healthy and available, contributing with a good total of six goals and six assists from only 48 games across all competitions.

After initially costing the club only £15.7 million, the “immense” and “underrated” midfielder—as announcer Adam Smith put it—has undoubtedly shown value for money despite his time on the sidelines.

Even though Kulusevski had a challenging season both individually and as a team last season, scoring only twice overall while dishing out eight assists, the Swede has been an unquestionable success.

Before that, the 23-year-old had excelled in the second half of the 2021–2022 season after moving to north London, helping Conte’s team finish in the top four with 13 goals and 18 assists in only 18 league games.

This time around, the former Parma player—who has drawn similarities to a certain Gareth Bale after his performance against Nottingham Forest last time out—has continued to feature in every league game this season, starting each one and dishing up two assists and five goals.

It is reasonable to state that Spurs signed Kulusevski and Bentancur during Conte’s tenure, and it is now Postecoglou’s goal to duplicate that masterstroke in the cases of Soule and Illing-Junior.

How Samuel Iling-Junior plays

Iling-Junior was formerly signed by Chelsea before making the audacious decision to sign with Juventus in 2020. Since then, he has made 24 appearances for the Serie A squad at the first team level across all competitions.

The England U21 international has performed well when given the chance so far, with one goal and three assists from his left-sided position, despite being far from a regular fixture under Allegri.

The Islington-born threat, who usually plays as a wing-back or in central midfield, demonstrated his undeniable ability in the lower age groups when he scored 14 goals and sent out 15 assists in only 58 games for Juventus’ U19 team.

Talent scout Jacek Kulig described Iling-Junior as a “flamboyant winger” who possesses “pace,” “acceleration,” and “athleticism.” Iling-Junior appears to have what it takes to excel in Postecoglou’s attack-minded and unrelenting style, and it’s frightening to think about pairing him with Udogie down the left flank.

The idea of young Soule returning to England alongside his Juve teammate would also be an enticing one, as the Argentine is now playing well on loan in Italy’s top division.

Stats for Matias Soule’s season

Similar to the Englishman, Soule was also taken from his own country in 2020 after moving to Europe and leaving Velez Sarsfield, but he has struggled to get chances at his parent club.

The wing wizard was transferred to Frosinone to get some much-needed senior experience after making only 21 appearances over the previous four years, and that decision has paid off handsomely given his recent exploits.

In only 14 Serie A games this season, the 6-foot phenom has already scored six goals despite his relative young. The aforementioned Kulig has highlighted his “superb dribbling skills” as one of his main selling points.

In 2023–24, the highly sought-after player completed 4.4 dribbles per game in the league and averaged an astounding 2.9 crucial passes per game, demonstrating his incredible ingenuity. In comparison, Kulusevski averaged only 1.7 and 2.3 for those same two measures, respectively.

Even if it would be a significant step for the winger to try to repeat such accomplishments in the Premier League, fans at N17 have something to cheer about.

Spurs would benefit much from a rerun of the Soule and Iling-Junior transfer masterclass, as they did when they signed Kulusveski and Bentancur from the Allianz Stadium almost two years ago.

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