Tottenham in talks with Juventus to sign Dejan Kulusevski after Luis Diaz disappointment

Tottenham are in talks with Juventus to try to sign Dejan Kulusevski after suffering disappointment in their attempts to bring Luis Diaz to north London.

Spurs look to have missed out on Porto winger Diaz, with the player and his agent keen on a move to Liverpool who have now entered the race for a player they have held a long-term interest in.

Tottenham were believed to be willing to match Porto’s valuation of the player but were unable to convince him to choose north London over Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Now Spurs’ managing director of football Fabio Paratici has switched his attentions to another name on his list to provide Antonio Conte with more options in the attacking areas.

Paratici is currently in talks with his old side Juventus over a loan deal with an option to buy for versatile 21-year-old Dejan Kulusevski, a player the Spurs managing director of football has high hopes for and has previously enquired with the Turin club about.

Kulusevski can play naturally as a right winger but also up front if needed or as a central attacking midfielder.

The Sweden international came through the Atalanta academy set-up after moving to Italy as a 16-year-old and later shone during two loan spells with Parma, once from Atalanta and again after Paratici took him to Juventus in 2019.

Kulusevski scored 10 goals and provided nine assists in 39 games for Parma and added another seven goals and seven assists in his first campaign for Juventus last year.

This year the Swede has found opportunities harder to come by with two goals and three assists in 27 appearances for the Turin side so far this term, more than half of those coming off the bench in a variety of positions. He has scored twice in his past five matches, with recent goals against Roma and Cagliari in Serie A.

Kulusevski could help provide some thrust to Spurs’ attacking issues while also providing another option alongside Harry Kane up front. Conte is believed to have wanted Inter Milan to sign the Swede during his time in Italy.

football.london understands that Paratici has also held talks this month with the representatives of Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie about a potential move, but that is currently deemed unlikely.

Paratici remains a huge admirer of 23-year-old USA international Weston McKennie, who he took to Juventus from Schalke in 2020, but a move this month would be difficult.

The versatile Texan can play either as a box to box midfielder, a defensive one or on the right or left of midfield.

However, McKennie has been starting regularly for Juventus this season, around a knee injury in early December, and his goal against Udinese last week was his fourth of the season for the Turin outfit.

A January switch would be unlikely at the moment with Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri not believed to be keen on losing the American midway through the campaign.

Paratici is expected to attempt to make more signings before the window shuts to bolster Conte’s squad after the disappointment of missing out on Diaz, as well as Wolves winger Adama Traore, who is set to join Barcelona on loan.

Spurs are looking to move a number of players out of the door in the coming days including Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Dele Alli.

Joe Rodon could also be the subject of a move from Brighton if Newcastle are able to sign their defender Dan Burn.