Ligue 1 president confirms club ‘will keep’ defender linked with Spurs this summer

Nice president, Jean-Pierre Rivere, has insisted that rumoured Tottenham Hotspur target Youcef Atal will not be sold this summer.

Atal was heavily linked with a move to Tottenham last summer after Kieran Trippier was sold to Atletico Madrid (DZ Football) but the North Londoners failed to get a right-back in.

BILD reported back in March that Spurs were set to make another attempt to sign the Algerian international when the transfer market opens this summer.

Foot Mercato claimed last Saturday that Watford and Napoli were the two most likely destinations for Atal this summer if he is to leave the Allianz Riviera Stadium.

However, Rivere has now confirmed Nice’s intention to hang on to the highly-rated full-back. When asked about Atal’s future, the Ligue 1 club’s president told Nice Matin: “We want to keep him – and we will keep him.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It does not seem as if Atal is on our radar this summer, which I am not surprised by. While he does look quality going forward, there are question marks over his defensive capabilities. Atal just does not seem like a Mourinho type of singing. I expect the Spurs boss will want to bring in a more defensively competent right-back to compete with Aurier, in order to give the squad better balance.

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