Reports linking Burney centre-back Maxime Esteve with a move to Tottenham are wide of the mark, football.london understands.
Some media outlets in both France and Italy reported on Tuesday that Spurs had entered talks to sign the 23-year-old Frenchman this summer. The defender joined the Clarets in January 2024 on loan from hometown club Montpellier before that move was made permanent that summer after their relegation from the Premier League.
The left-footed centre-back then started in all 46 games in the Championship last season and helped Scott Parker’s side climb back into the top flight. Esteve was one of the standout players for Burnley but Spurs are not believed to be currently looking at engaging in talks over the Frenchman.
football.london understands Tottenham are currently prioritising the search for a right winger with West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus among the players of interest, with a bid having already been rejected by West Ham. Spurs are also expected to look for another central midfielder while new head coach Thomas Frank analyses the rest of his squad to see what he believes is needed to strengthen different areas within his system.
It’s also worth noting that the north London club currently have a huge surplus of centre-backs. In terms of senior players they have Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso, the injured Radu Dragusin, as well as the experienced Ben Davies who can play in the role. Then there is 18-year-old Luka Vuskovic who arrived at the club this summer along with new signing Kota Takai, a 20-year-old Japan international who put pen to paper this week on his move.
Takai, who has made four international appearances for Japan, is expected to be part of the first team squad this season while Frank will make a decision on Vuskovic, who made his Croatia debut last month, this summer and whether it’s more beneficial for him to learn around the squad in the first half of this campaign or head out on loan with regular football.
On top of that there are Ashley Phillips and Alfie Dorrington, who both impressed out on loan at Stoke and Aberdeen respectively last season.
So in total, Tottenham currently have nine centre-backs, while teenager Archie Gray also filled in last season in the role admirably during the injury crisis if you want to make it a round 10.
If that wasn’t enough then there’s also the club’s European squad to think about and if you want a full explainer of that then football.london has got you covered by going right here.
In short, even with Alejo Veliz’s departure this week on loan to Rosario Central, Frank must currently fit 30 players into 22 spots in their Champions League squad and that’s before they have made any more signings beyond Takai.
So unless a new centre-back happened to be a former Spurs academy player and therefore club trained and not needing to be registered in those 22 spots, there’s no rush right now to get out there and buy another central defender when they have so many. Tottenham need to get players out of the door as soon as Frank decides who is surplus to requirements.
Thomas Frank assembles his staff, the latest on Cristian Romero – click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Or click here to watch on YouTube!
