Tottenham fall behind Barcelona in race for £20m defender

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly eyeing a move for a right-back who is impressing in La Liga this season but they are not the ones leading the race for the player.

Defender’s stock has skyrocketed over the last six months

Andrei Ratiu joined Rayo Vallecano from the Spanish second-tier side Huesca in the summer of 2023, but he was not a regular in the side last season.

However, his fortunes started to change at the Euros back in the summer, with the 26-year-old being one of Romania’s most impressive players at the tournament.

He has since managed to not just become a regular in Rayo Vallecano’s starting eleven but has been one of the most consistent right-backs on show in La Liga, thus attracting interest from a number of top sides.

Tottenham join the queue to sign Andrei Ratiu

According to the print edition of Mundo Deportivo (as relayed by Sport Witness), Ratiu’s list of admirers is now growing by the day as we edge closer to the January window.

The report says that Tottenham are one of the clubs who have been impressed by the right-back’s displays at the Vallecas Stadium.

However, they are far from the only ones, with Barcelona, AS Roma, Napoli and Bayer Leverkusen are also monitoring the defender’s situation.

It had previously been reported by Marca that Ratiu has a €25m (£20m) clause in his contract, but Rayo Vallecano could be open to selling him for a lower fee.

Barcelona leading the race

However, this latest update from Mundo Deportivo reveals that Barca believe that they are ahead of Spurs and the other clubs in the race for Ratiu.

The Romanian international is managed by Leaderbrock Sports, who the Catalan club are thought to have a good relationship with since the agency also manages Pedri.

In fact, the La Liga club’s sporting director Deco has allegedly spoken to the agency about the Romanian, giving Hansi Flick’s side the upper hand in the transfer pursuit.

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