Tottenham Hotspur could reportedly sign a "fascinating" player on loan in the January transfer window as manager Ange Postecoglou looks to shore up his squad.
Spurs in deep trouble with absentee list growing
Spurs currently have 10 players either injured or suspended, with James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Richarlison, Ryan Sessegnon, Manor Solomon, Ashley Phillips, Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur all unavailable to play.
A fair few of these players now aren't expected back until 2024, a list which includes star summer signings Maddison and van de Ven. Indeed, Perisic, Solomon and Bentancur also won't feature again this year, with the latter picking up an ankle ligament injury against Aston Villa.
To make matters worse, the likes of Bissouma, Sarr and Son Heung-min are set to be away soon after the start of 2024, as they represent their nations at AFCON and the Asia Cup respectively.
The January transfer window is therefore a crucial one for Postecoglou and new sporting director Johan Lange, who is tasked in advising chairman Daniel Levy and Chief Football Officer Scott Munn on targets.
The priority is believed to be a left-sided centre-back at Spurs, but it's also been claimed that Postecoglou is very keen to shore up his options out wide. This has lead to various reports that they're targeting Al-Ittihad winger Jota, a player who the Spurs boss knows very well after coaching him at Celtic.
Tottenham could sign Jota on loan
According to The Standard and journalist Nizaar Kinsella, Tottenham signing Jota on loan is a "possibility" as Postecoglou looks to sign a winger after injuries to Perisic and Solomon.
He cost around £25 million for Al-Ittihad to sign from Celtic in the summer window, but the 24-year-old hasn't gone on to be a star for them just yet and could seek a return to Europe. This comes after a previous report by 90min claimed that Jota would be very interested in linking back up with Postecoglou at Tottenham.
Jota scored a fantastic 11 goals and 11 assists in his last season at Parkhead before making the switch to Saudi Arabia, and it will be very interesting to see if he could make it in England.
Called a "fascinating" player by journalist Joel Sked, the former Benfica star has also been called an "exciting" forward by ex-Tottenham defender Alan Hutton in an interview with Football Insider.
"Jota's only 23-years-old, he's still developing," explained Hutton in the summer of 2022. "He's probably only going to get better, I think he can get better. What he's done this season has been incredible, for him to come from his parent club, where he's not really been playing. Benfica are a big club in their own right but to come to another club where there's a lot of pressure, to perform at such a young age, he's stood up to that task.
“Jota's that player fans want to see. He's exciting, he takes people on, he makes things happen, he scores goals and ticks all the boxes."