A report has revealed how Tottenham Hotspur overcame Nottingham Forest, Wolves and two Serie A sides to sign Alejo Veliz this summer from Rosario Central.
Veliz was the only centre-forward Tottenham signed in the summer they sold Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, but due to his age, there is no pressure on the Argentine addition to immediately take over from the England captain.
Nevertheless, Veliz is starting to catch Ange Postecoglou’s attention in training more and more, which has led to substitute appearances in Tottenham’s two most recent Premier League matches.
Now, The Athletic has provided a feature focusing on Veliz’s route to becoming a Tottenham player, confirming that they beat Nottingham Forest, Wolves, AC Milan and Roma to his signature.
Interestingly, it is also verified in the report that Fabio Paratici played a consulting role in the transfer, despite vacating his position as Tottenham’s managing director of football (because of a FIFA ban) four months before Veliz joined Spurs.
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Ultimately, Tottenham got the £13m deal over the line and they will be hoping it turns out to be money well spent in the long run. Veliz, 20, is under a long-term contract until 2029, so this could be the first of six seasons in north London for the South American starlet.
In his way for gametime at the moment are players like the underperforming Richarlison, new captain Son Heung-min and fellow summer signing Brennan Johnson.
There is no European football on offer at Tottenham this season and they are already out of the Carabao Cup, which may have been ways for Postecoglou to rotate Veliz into the lineup, but it seems there is a strong belief that he will come good.
Veliz can develop at Tottenham
Whether he would have been able to progress at a different rate at any of the other clubs that were in for him is something we will never know, but time is on his side as he aims to force his way into becoming a big part of the Tottenham project for the future.
He is also eligible to play for their under-21 team, as he already has done in the EFL Trophy this season, which should give him a different way to develop if there is less space immediately for him in Postecoglou’s plans for the senior side.
But it appears the Australian tactician is quickly realising Veliz’s potential and he may have Paratici to thank for it, even though they technically never worked at the same time for Tottenham.
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