Sebastien Haller and Ko Itakura do battle in the Bundesliga
Tottenham have had to put on hold their bid to land a Bundesliga centre-back who had been firmly on their radar, although a January move cannot be completely ruled out at this stage.
Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ko Itakura is the player in question, with Ange Postecoglou desperate to bring in another central defender after Spurs’ depth at the position was brutally exposed at Wolves on Saturday.
Eric Dier and Ben Davies had to fill in for the banned Cristian Romero and injured Micky van de Ven at Molineux, and while Welshman Davies was named man-of-the-match it did not stop Postecoglou’s men conceding two injury-time goals in a demoralising 2-1 defeat.
Former England man Dier had a particular struggle with Wolves’ pacy forward line but is likely to have to continue for the games against Aston Villa and Manchester City after the international break before Romero’s three-match ban ends.
There were always concerns that Postecoglou had left himself thin in the position after Japhet Tanganga and Joe Rodon left on loan and then Davinson Sanchez was sold to Galatasaray after the English transfer window had closed.
And now plans to bring in another centre-back have been actively ramped up and Itakura has very much been on Postecoglou’s radar, along with a number of other names, as we revealed recently.
The pacy Japan international has excelled in Germany, having initially made a big impression on loan at Schalke from Manchester City.
Itakura never made an appearance at The Etihad after arriving from his homeland in 2019, but has since gone on to become one of the Bundesliga’s most impressive defenders.
Postecoglou’s knowledge of the Japanese market only adds to the interest though and he remains on Tottenham’s radar despite currently being on the sidelines
The 26-year-old scored two goals in the first three games of the season was in fine form as Spurs scouts monitored him regularly.
However, Itakura was forced to undergo surgery on a nagging ankle injury towards the end of last month and has now missed Gladbach’s last four games.
He is, though, expected to be in action fairly soon and it’s expected that scouts from the north London club will return with interest.
Postecoglou hoping for third time lucky on Ikatura deal
Postecoglou’s interest in the defender dates back to before his summer arrival, with the Australian expected to play a key role in trying to recruit Ikatura.
The Daily Record stated back in 2021 that Postecoglou was keen on landing the player for Celtic, while he was still struggling to make any sort of mark at City.
Ko Itakura never got a game for Man City.
He’s proving a €5m bargain for @borussia_en 💪 pic.twitter.com/A85RKOuFKB
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) February 17, 2023
And, although other Asian players arrived at Celtic Park, Itakura ended up being loaned out to Schalke instead.
Postecoglou then made a second attempt to sign the Japan star in 2022 only to miss out at Gladbach landed him in a bargain €5million deal.
In terms of his qualities, Itakura is renowned for his blistering pace, similar to Van de Ven, and would almost be a like-for-like replacement for the Netherlands star – who is expected to be out until the middle of January with the nasty-looking hamstring injury he picked up against Chelsea.
Tottenham will be looking to bounce back from back-to-back defeats after the international break when Aston Villa head to north London.
