This is a new one:
https://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnati...x-grimaldo-benfica-30m-danny-rose-replacement
Tottenham identify Alex Grimaldo as possible Danny Rose replacement
According to Portuguese paper Record, Spurs are making plans in case Danny Rose is sold.
By
Dustin Menno@dustingm Jun 11, 2018, 3:30pm BST
Despite a couple of recent interviews that hinted that he wants to stay at
Tottenham Hotspur,
Danny Rose is still linked with a move away from the club this summer after the
World Cup. If a Portuguese newspaper is correct, Spurs may have identified his potential replacement.
Alex Grimaldo, Benfica 16-17. Used to be a kid in the Barcelona system. Now regarded as a top young fullback at Benfica
According to the Record, Spurs have “allocated” €30m to meet the buyout clause of Alejandro “Alex” Grimaldo, a Spanish left back presently playing for Benfica. The full article is behind a paywall, but
Sports Illustrated states that any move for Grimaldo would be contingent on Spurs offloading Rose after the World Cup.
If you play Football Manager, you might recognize the name Alex Grimaldo — he was considered
one of the best young LBs in the game in FM17, and one of those “wonder kids” that you were supposed to buy and develop into a superstar. A La Masia graduate, Grimaldi is a Spanish U21 international who has yet to receive a senior cap.
Grimaldo is now 22 and to be fair has the makings of a very good left back. He’s been a regular for Benfica this past season, scoring a goal and tallying five assists in 3200 minutes. He’s a short guy — 5’7” — but a speedster who likes to get forward, and is also known as a proficient crosser of the ball. In that sense he’d be similar in profile to Rose, and a nice contrast in playing style to
Ben Davies.
One potential concern with Grimaldo would be his history of injury. He missed a significant portion of the 2016-17 season with a groin injury and also a few matches at the beginning of this past season. He’s coming off of a pretty good season that saw him start pretty much every match for Benfica since November of 2017.
I’m not sure what “allocated €30m” means in the context of this article — probably this is all just paper talk and a random transfer rumor without any merit. But if Spurs are indeed looking to potentially replace Rose this summer, I think Grimaldo would be a pretty nice option. He’s not English, so Spurs would need to make up the “association trained” aspect of the
Champions League squad some other way, but he’s young, fast, and promising. That’s a pretty good combo. Consider me Alex Grimaldo-curious.