Friday 20 March 2015 19:18, UK
Tottenham have begun to decide on their summer transfer targets and are discussing the potential signing of young FC Koln defender Kevin Wimmer, according to Sky sources.
The club are actively looking to sign a new centre-half before next season and are very interested in the 22-year-old Austrian, who has impressed in his 25 appearances for the Bundesliga club this term.
There have been reports in Germany that a deal has already been verbally agreed for him to move to White Hart Lane but Sky Sports understands those claims are premature.
Tottenham were interested in Wimmer in January but failed to offload either of their currently unwanted central-defenders Younes Kaboul and Vlad Chiriches, who were both made available for loan ahead of the winter window's deadline.
Kaboul and Chiriches are both set for the transfer list again this summer and Wimmer fits the club’s new and continuing policy of signing young, hungry players who are keen to develop under head coach Mauricio Pochettino and his staff.
Sky sources understand Tottenham are equally as keen to bring through more members of their academy this summer, having seen Harry Kane, Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb and Danny Rose make significant improvements this term.
The club are set for a major assessment of their youth players, with prospects such as Alex Pritchard, Ryan Fredericks and Grant Hall, who are currently out loan, to be given the chance to prove they are worthy of a shot at the first-team, while the likes of Nathan Oduwa, Cristian Ceballos and Harry Winks also feature prominently in their thinking.
Spurs will therefore assess carefully whether bringing in a new first-team player has the potential to block the path of an already developing youth.
And they will look to offload older, more experienced players such Aaron Lennon, Etienne Capoue and Emmanuel Adebayor, who were also made available for loans in January, with Lennon joining Everton.
Pochettino admitted this week that every member of his squad still has the chance to meet the club's standards, but he also confirmed Spurs have begun identifying their summer transfer targets.
"The players need to feel they always have the opportunity to show us that they can stay here and I am always open. It is never too late," he said.
"But we are starting to work on strengthening the team. My idea is to improve every season. That is what we are working very hard to do and identify where we can do that, to make our squad better for next year.”
