EXCLUSIVE: Tottenham eye Brentford double swoop in January
Steve Kay
- 6 Nov 2023 15:01 CST
- 3 min read
Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou has identified Brentford captain Christian Norgaard as a January target, FootballTransfers has been told.
Norgaard, who took over the armband from Pontus Jansson at the beginning of the season, is wanted by Spurs to beef up competition in the midfield as they push towards a title challenge that the North London club hasn't been involved in since the 2015/16 season.
The middle of the park is seen by the Australian as a major worry with important players such as Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr unavailable while the Africa Cup of Nations is taking place over the winter, along with concerns about the match fitness of Rodrigo Bentancur who only made his first appearance in nine months from a long-term ACL injury in last Friday's 2-1 win at Crystal Palace. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Eric Dier, moreover, are facing uncertain futures.
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Norgaard, a 29-year-old Danish International who has played 21 games for his country, has been a hugely important player for the Bees with his ability to read the game and break up attacks but has also been a highly influential leader since arriving at Brentford in 2019 from Fiorentina for a fee of €3.5m, which is something, according to our sources, the new Spurs coach particularly admires in the Dane and wants in the Spurs dressing room.
A double swoop
Potentially, this could lead to a double swoop in January as Spurs are also very interested in striker Ivan Toney, news which FootballTransfers exclusively broke back in July.
Toney recently put on his Instagram account a picture of him scoring a goal against North London rivals Arsenal, which convinced many Spurs fans that the Brentford hitman could be on his way to N17 and not N5 in January. Toney is banned from playing football until January 16 and it has been widely reported that he is keen to move in the winter.
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As for Christian Norgaard, his contract runs out in 2025 but the Bees have the option of a further year. The Dane spoke about a possible move away from Brentford last year, something he refused to rule out. “Yes, there has been a bit of everything, without me mentioning some clubs by name,” he told Tipsbladet. "You should never say never in the football world."
