Tottenham’s pursuit of Cody Gakpo has stalled, and Christian Pulisic is now among the alternatives being discussed before Tuesday’s transfer deadline. One report said Spurs had been prepared to spend in excess of £70million on Gakpo, but his reported preference for Manchester City has forced a quick rethink. Another placed Pulisic on Tottenham’s radar while they work through their options.

Gakpo's change and Spurs' response

The move away from Gakpo has not come out of nowhere. Spurs had been ready to spend heavily, and Cody Gakpo now appears to be leaning towards Manchester City instead. TeamTalk also reported that Tottenham had been making enquiries about Pulisic as they assessed their options ahead of the deadline, while the same report added Malick Fofana to the list of names under consideration.

The wider search says plenty about the state of Spurs' attacking work. They need further reinforcements before Tuesday, and the fallback list is already broad rather than neatly focused on one replacement.

Pulisic's case at Milan

Pulisic is not being chased on reputation alone. He has 55 combined goals and assists in 100 Serie A games for AC Milan, which is a decent return for a winger who has already shown he can produce in Italy. At 27, he is also old enough to be a finished product in the market, but still young enough to be seen as a player with value left.

That said, Milan do not sound eager to move him on. Football.london reported that AC Milan are not looking to sell and still see him as part of Ruben Amorim's long-term plans, while also noting that he has been unused against Torino and Venezia at the start of the season. Another report linked that benching to workload management after the microfracture he suffered at the World Cup.

Spurs are still only in the enquiry stage, and Gakpo's preference for Manchester City remains the immediate reason Pulisic has moved up the list. If Tottenham want a proven end product option before Tuesday, Pulisic is exactly the sort of name that fits that brief.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →