Tottenham Hotspur have pulled the plug on signing Galatasary defender Victor Nelsson with Ange Postecoglou's side "no longer in talks" this summer.
Who will Tottenham sign?
Spurs are attempting to back Postecoglou with more fresh faces, but with just two more games of their pre-season remaining and the start of 2023/2024 just next month, they will want to make more headway soon.
The north Londoners have seen goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, midfielder James Maddison and winger Manor Solomon join the club this window – following on from permanent deals for Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski.
Next on chairman Daniel Levy's transfer agenda is the signing of a two star centre-backs, and there have been a succession of defenders linked.
Postecoglou has admitted that is something the club are currently looking at, coming after Spurs conceded a pretty woeful 63 league goals last campaign.
"That's definitely our intention, absolutely," said Postecoglou when asked about signing new defenders.
"We've been working on it for a while and we'll definitely try to get it done as quickly as possible.
"I don't think it's any secret about some of the areas we needed to strengthen. Some of it I identified early on. The goalkeeper was one and central defence is another.
"In terms of the other boys, we've got a big squad but my view is I wanted to bring them along and just work with them, get some clarity in my head and give clarity to them."
Tottenham have been seriously interested and in talks for Micky van de Ven of Wolfsburg, but reports from The Athletic this morning suggest a deal could now be off.
However, rhe long list of alternative centre-backs linked with a move to N17 includes Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen, Fulham's Tosin Adarabioyo, Barcelona'a Clement Lenglet, Juventus defender Gleison Bremer and Nelsson.
On the latter defender, there were reports of Spurs nearing a deal to sign the 24-year-old, but journalist Charlie Gordon of The Daily Express has a contrary update.
Taking to Twitter, Gordon says Tottenham are "no longer in talks" to sign Nelsson – with Postecoglou's side seemingly giving up on a deal.
"Update on Victor Nelsson," wrote the reporter.
"Told that Tottenham are no longer in talks for the Galatasaray CB, dismissing recent reports of an agreement between the clubs."
There is little background as to why Spurs have backed away, which we find bizarre considering his contract possesses an affordable £21 million release clause.
How good is Victor Nelsson?
The Denmark international, who featured at last year's 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has been a star player for Galatasary at club level.
Boasting some impressive stats from last season's Turkish Super Lig campaign, Nelsson made more blocks per 90 and won more battles in the air than any other Galatasary player (WhoScored).
An undroppable under manager Okan Buruk, Nelsson featured over more league minutes than any of his outfield teammates last campaign – surely highlighting his importance to Galatasary and quality as a player.
The former FC Copenhagen ace has been called one the "star player" of Galatasary by sections of the Turkish press, making Spurs' decision to back off a rather curious one.
Perhaps, and this is just speculation, they edging towards an agreement for other targets like Lenglet or Tapsoba.