{"id":404450,"date":"2026-02-02T20:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T20:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/404450\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T20:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T20:52:12","slug":"enic-working-on-deadline-day-deal-to-sign-big-money-solanke-upgrade-for-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/404450\/","title":{"rendered":"ENIC working on deadline day deal to sign big-money Solanke upgrade for Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tottenham Hotspur<\/a> have been among the busier Premier League<\/a> clubs during the January transfer window, signing Conor Gallagher<\/a> from Atletico Madrid and young left-back Souza from Santos in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Thomas Frank<\/a>‘s tenure so far would tell you that Spurs have needed to bring in reinforcements, and with the frontline struggling and weakened by Mohammed Kudus<\/a>‘ hamstring injury picked up in January, it’s understandable that technical director Johan Lange is looking to pull off a last-minute move.<\/p>\n

Dominic Solanke<\/a> has had a big impact since returning to the fold after injury last month, but an ankle scare after his goalscoring performance against Manchester City has accentuated the<\/p>\n

\"Tottenham<\/p>\n

As far as fitness goes, the Three Lions man is unreliable, and Tottenham could benefit from a contrasting attacking profile.<\/p>\n

Spurs lining up last-gasp signing<\/p>\n

Tottenham need some support up top. While Solanke gives Frank’s system the focal presence it requires, he indeed left the pitch on Sunday with pain in his ankle, and the alternatives at number nine haven’t proved themself prolific enough to lead the line and lead the club back to the ascendancy.<\/p>\n

Any number of targets have been earmarked by ENIC Group this month, but there’s one who remains a candidate in the final hours.<\/p>\n

According to The Independent<\/a>, Tottenham are exploring a move for Al Nassr striker Jhon Duran<\/a> in the dying embers of the winter transfer market, buoyed by LOSC Lille’s failed attempt to sign the Colombian.<\/p>\n

Leeds United and Nottingham Forest have also shown interest in the 22-year-old<\/a> in the lead-up to the deadline, but Spurs’ position in the Champions League could hold sway in the race.<\/p>\n

\"Al<\/p>\n

The proposed framing of the transfer remains uncertain. It was only one year ago, after all, that Al Nassr paid Aston Villa a staggering \u00a364m sum to take Duran from the Premier League as he was establishing himself as an elite prospect.<\/p>\n

But Tottenham’s interest is genuine, and so is their need for a mercurial and deadly star to give Frank’s frontline a new dimension.<\/p>\n

Why Spurs want Jhon Duran<\/p>\n

Described as a “true monster<\/a>” for his powerful and potent attacking performances, Duran is one of the most dangerous strikers in the business, and he would bring something wholly different to Tottenham if signed today.<\/p>\n

\"jhon<\/p>\n

Duran joined Aston Villa from Chicago Fire in an \u00a318m deal in January 2023, and fast forward to the present, he’s led a storied career that has taken him not just from the United States to Birmingham, England, but to Saudi Arabia and now Turkey too.<\/p>\n

He only played 1,214 minutes of football in the Premier League for Emery’s outfit, but in that timeframe, he scored 12 goals, equating to<\/p>\n

a goal every 101 minutes.<\/p>\n

Duran – Aston Villa Stats by Competition<\/p>\n

Competition<\/p>\n

Apps (minutes)<\/p>\n

Goals<\/p>\n

Premier League<\/p>\n

55 (1,214′)<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

Conference League<\/p>\n

12 (323′)<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Champions League<\/p>\n

7 (240′)<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

EFL Cup<\/p>\n

3 (225′)<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

FA Cup<\/p>\n

1 (70′)<\/p>\n

0<\/p>\n

Data via Transfermarkt<\/a><\/p>\n

That’s some statistic for a young forward who was making his very first foray into European football at any level, and though a move to Al-Nassr, and subsequently Fenerbahce on loan, has stunted his blistering growth, Duran remains one of the game’s great mavericks of modern times.<\/p>\n

Duran would need to quickly reestablish himself in the English game. Two shots were all Solanke needed to notch a brace against Pep Guardiola’s side, vastly outperforming his xG. <\/p>\n

Expected Goals (xG) is a metric designed to measure the probability of a shot resulting in a goal.<\/p>\n

\"Solanke<\/p>\n

In this, Solanke produced a performance that mimicked the best attributes Duran possesses, but the consistency with which the powerful South American channelled such traits suggests he could leap past Solanke and indeed produce the clinical and duel-heavy performances that his counterpart is beginning to showcase under Frank’s wing. <\/p>\n

He’s still so young. Solanke was 21 when he left a fringe role at Liverpool to grow into his skin on the south coast with Bournemouth, and it would be several years yet before he produced the kind of displays that caught Spurs’ attention. Duran is already a budding superstar, \u201cpure theatre<\/a>\u201d in the final third, as remarked by The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell. <\/p>\n

Duran’s devastating impact, with such speed and strength at the heart of his skillset, could see him become the main man for Frank’s Tottenham, for he scored seven goals from only four starts in the Premier League last season, before moving to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr, and were he to pick up where he left off, he would surely warrant a place in Tottenham’s first team.<\/p>\n

Frank seems open to striking partnerships, having fielded Randal Kolo Muani alongside the 28-year-old Solanke at the weekend, so there’s a potentially ruthless duo to be found there, but Duran surely has the potential to far outstrip the England international down the line, and he could hold the key to unlocking the attacking sparkle that has sadly been missing down N17 this season.<\/p>\n

\"Spurs<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tSpurs now exploring deadline day move to sign their new Heung-min Son
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Tottenham are lining up a last-gasp winter deal to shore up Thomas Frank’s frontline. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tottenham Hotspur have been among the busier Premier League clubs during the January transfer window, signing Conor Gallagher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-404450","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}