Spurs scouts urging Thomas Frank to move for £35m Champions League winger

Tottenham Hotspur have identified a Champions League winger as a potential new recruit following the sale of Brennan Johnson.

Johnson departed N17 soon after the January transfer window opened, with Spurs receiving £35m from Crystal Palace for the wideman, who only started 10 times in all competitions under Thomas Frank, despite being the club’s top goalscorer in the Premier League last season and notching in their first two games.

With the Lilywhites continuing to underwhelm under the Dane following their weekend draw with Sunderland, rejuvenating the playing squad may be the key to salvaging some progress from Frank’s first year in charge.

And with more money in the bank following Johnson’s exit, a new name has emerged at the top of their transfer shortlist.

According to TEAMtalk, Greece international Christos Tzolis leads a six-player shortlist as Spurs hunt for a Johnson replacement.

Tzolis has starred for Club Brugge in the Belgian top flight and the Champions League, though they have work to do to hopefully join Spurs in the play-offs or beyond.

But what may be pointing Spurs towards the 23-year-old is his attacking output.

Tzolis is already into double figures for both goals and assists across all competitions, while in the Champions League, he is one of the competition’s most frequent shooters – only six players, including Harry Kane and Erling Haaland – have had more shots on goal, as seen in the table below.

And that may go some way to explaining why Tottenham’s scouts and analysts are putting their eggs in Tzolis’ basket.

The main problem for Spurs would appear to be the transfer fee required to get the winger out of Belgium.

It is thought that Club Brugge would require a club-record £35m to sanction a sale – the exact sum Spurs received for Johnson just days ago.

However, all would not be lost if that was too big an obstacle for Tottenham, as five other wingers remain on their shortlist.

Monaco winger Maghnes Akliouche, Atalanta star Ademola Lookman and Manchester City’s Savinho are among their targets, while the more high-profile Rodrygo and Nico Williams would appear more ambitious recruits.

None of those players can match Tzolis’ creativity this term, so perhaps Spurs would be best placed pursuing the Greek star.

Graduated in Sport Journalism (BA) with first-class honours from the University of Brighton and has since had bylines in The Times, sports business publication SportsPro, Football FanCast and The Gooner fanzine.