Tottenham have confirms a deal for 19-year old Argentine U20 international striker and Rosario Central player

 

While it might not be the here we go! everybody is waiting for, Tottenham is set to confirm the signing of the highly touted 19-year-old Alejo Véliz.

Fabrizio Romano confirmed the agreement between Tottenham and Rosario Central in the wee hours of London’s Friday morning.

1. Good news everyone! According to several sources in South America, Tottenham Hotspur have signed a new striker! Argentina journalist Cesar Luis Melo, along with other sources, is now reporting that Tottenham have finalized a deal for 19-year old Argentine U20 international and Rosario Central player Alejo Veliz! We are awaiting the official announcement from the club, which may come as soon as Friday morning.

So that went fast! Tottenham Hotspur identified a potential young offensive target with a super high upside and then actually moved to sign him before another team could do it first. That feels pretty great! According to Melo, Veliz was signed for $17m (£13.3m) + $6m (£4.7m) in escalators for a potential total of £18m, plus a 10% sell-on clause to Rosario. Contrary to earlier reports about a possible loan back to Rosario, it appears he’s going to travel to England to sign a five year deal.

We already talked about what kind of a player Veliz looks to be based on what little we can glean from his stats and compilation videos. We know that he got some praise from none other than Lionel Messi, and for an Argentinian striker, praise from Messi is like being anointed by the Pope. On the flip side we’ve also heard from South American football expert Tim Vickery who cautioned that Argentinan players of his profile have struggled in the Premier League in the p’ast.

So that makes Veliz a punt, but not necessarily a bad one, or one that Spurs should’ve avoided. We won’t know that for a while. All that said, Veliz is the kind of player that Spurs should absolutely be taking a punt on, especially at that price point. Maybe he makes no impact, or maybe he turns into simply a capable striker. Or maybe he turns into the next Sergio Aguero or Hernan Crespo! And if he does, wouldn’t it be great if he did it as a Tottenham player?

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It’s been a rather toxic few weeks in Spurs-land. Harry Kane is very likely on his way out of the club, we still need a central defender or two, and Spurs are adopting a high-pressure, high-attacking, and highly risky new style of play. But now they also have this player, a “little brother” for Cuti Romero and Gio Lo Celso, and a new person on which Spurs fans can hang their hopes and dreams. Isn’t that fun? It’s fun. Let’s enjoy it.

Update: Fab has spoken! I wonder who the other “top club” is? We await the official announcement.