Tottenham, Madrid and Lazio chase Fenerbahce wonderkid

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 23: Daniel Levy chairman of Tottenham Hotspur looks on prior to the Premier League match between Everton FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park on December 23, 2018 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 23: Daniel Levy chairman of Tottenham Hotspur looks on prior to the Premier League match between Everton FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park on December 23, 2018 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham have entered the race for Fenerbache’s wonderkid midfielder Elif Elmas as a potential replacement for Moussa Dembele.

Elif Elmas, Fenerbache’s 19 year old midfielder is one of the hottest properties in world football at the moment.  He’s being chased by Real Madrid and Lazio as well as North London’s Tottenham Hotspur.

It is rumored that Tottenham have scouted the player and view him as a perfect replacement for the outgoing Moussa Dembele.  This move would be in perfect accordance with the clubs new money saving policy of only signing young players who will not expect a high salary.  The only issue is that with the player being in such high demand a bidding war could be expected and that is something that Tottenham will want to avoid at all costs.

Real Madrid have recently become a club more interested in stockpiling potential superstars than actual ones and have taken a strong initiative to signing young players in recent years.  That said with their current managerial instability it seems unlikely that they’ll be signing players for the future.

If Tottenham are as interested as the rumors appear to say then the big worry is Lazio.  The Rome based giants are currently looking for a replacement for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic who is trying to force his way to either AC or Inter Milan.  Elif Elmas being a Macedonian player would feel very comfortable in Italy’s Serie A where he has had many countrymen both past and present who play in the division which is also closer to home than England.

He may also not be interested in the potential role as a back-up that he could be walking in to at Tottenham.  Though Spurs are a better club than Lazio at the moment if Elmas values his playing time there’s a chance that he decides against it.  Especially given the fact that what ordinarily English teams are able to use over their foreign counterparts is a higher average salary than any of the other leagues in Europe Tottenham would specifically be signing the player as part of an initiative to lower their wage bill.

The truth is that Elmas would be a great addition to the team and a good squad player for both now and the future but this seems to be a move that might just be a little too difficult to make happen given the climate that it is in.