Pochettino interested in Boca Juniors Almendra

Pochettino interested in Boca Juniors Almendra

Boca Juniors midfielder Augustin Almendra is being tracked by Tottenham who are said to be speaking to the player in an attempt to convince him his future lies with Spurs.

The 19-year-old (20 next February) central midfielder has a contract until 2022 that has a release clause of £23.82 million (€27m). The news comes from AS Argentina, which is the main daily sports newspaper in Argentina. Mind you I have seen reports that suggests the buyout clause is £17.65 million (€20m).

The Argentinian Under-20 international (5 caps) is being followed by Italian champions Juventus, Premier League champions Manchester City, Spanish champions Barcelona, French champions PSG, Portuguese champions Benfica, Italian runners-up Napoli, Inter Milan, and Valencia.

Almendra came through the Boca Juniors academy and reading about his attributes, he seems to be a player who contributes defensively and starts play going forward. he gets out of tricky situations, thus has an ability to beat a press. he has close ball control like the ball is glued to his foot and upper body strength.

He has a footballing brain which can be seen through his body shape when pressed. He positions his hips and shoulders to indicate he is going to head in one direction and goes in another which of course gives him a space advantage when the marker has to adjust and react. That shows he has balance and agility.

He has very good ability running with the ball in transition, something Dembele was good at for us. He has more pace than Dembele had though.

Almendra can read a game well, allowing him to time his tackles and keep the foul count low. He is good at retrieving the ball cleanly and starting attacks with a good understanding of where the space is around the opposition.

The youngster shows a lot of potential, he isn't the finished article yet, why would he be, it's the first season he has broken into the side.