Spurs interested in PSV defender | OneFootball

As per a report, Tottenham Hotspur have listed PSV Eindhoven central defender Olivier Boscagli as a target for the January transfer window. The same source mentioned interest in Dominic Solanke as far back as April of last year.

Spurs said to be interested in French defender from PSV

Back in the summer of 2019, Boscagli joined Dutch giants PSV from Ligue 1 side OGC Nice, for a fee of around 2 million Euros, and has enjoyed a successful time in the Netherlands since, winning four trophies. He played 33/34 games last season, as PSV won the title with a record 91 points - just 11 points dropped all season. The defender also won the U19 Euros with France back in 2016.

Whilst the quality of the Eredivise is perhaps not the best, there have been recent examples of players coming over to the Premier League and thriving. Cody Gakpo is one of Liverpool's biggest attacking threats, and Everton central defender Jarrad Branthwaite had a successful loan at PSV back in the 22/23 season - a player who has also been linked to the club this month.

The 27-year old, like Branthwaite, is a left footed central defender. He has a pretty good injury record, missing just 15 career games, and five since 16/17, outside of a one off ACL injury he picked up in April of 2022, which lead to PSV singing the Everton defender on loan for that 22/23 season.

For those that are that way inclined, his fbREF makes for good reading. The defender ranks in the 99th percentile for passes attempted, progressive passes, progressive carries, as well as assists, npxG+ xAG, and shot creating actions - when compared to other central defenders. Sure, numbers do not always tell the full story, but you can tell by this data that he is clearly a very capable ball playing defender - something that Tottenham need.

Although, as mentioned above - Boscagli won the U19 Euros with France back in 2016, he is still yet to be capped by Didier Deschamps at senior level. That is no bad thing though. Spurs know only too well from Cristian Romero how international can seriously cripple your options. Having a weeks rest every month for the first three months of the season, as well as summers off, would be quite a refreshing change to what the club have been used to over the years.