Tottenham face fight with Juventus for Barcelona misfit Andre Gomes

Tottenham are set to go head-to-head with Italian giants Juventus in the battle for Barcelona misfit Andre Gomes and have already held discussions with the midfielder's agent about a potential January move.

Mauricio Pochettino's side tried to hand Gomes a way out of his Camp Nou nightmare in the summer, but Ernesto Valverde's team were reluctant to sanction a move without drafting in a replacement first.

The former Valencia star has done little to convince the Blaugrana to keep him during the embryonic stages of the new campaign, starting just once and having little to no impact in six substitute appearances. With Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic, Sergi Roberto and Paulinho currently ahead of him in the Barcelona pecking order, his rate of game-time is unlikely to increase in the coming weeks.

Despite so far failing to showcase his talents at the Nou Camp, Gomes is attracting interest from a couple of esteemed clubs. Serie A champions Juventus are interested in prising the Portugal international away from Catalonia, according to Mundo Deportivo, who report that Massimiliano Allegri's side are looking for a replacement for on-loan attacker Douglas Costa, who has endured a tough start to life in Turin after arriving on loan for Bayern Munich.

Juve were also interested in Gomes during the summer, but the 24-year-old did not want to listen to the Bianconeri's proposal as he was keen to stay and fight for his place under new manager Valverde at Barca.

Tottenham were perhaps more encouraged by the midfielder in the summer, and have apparently held discussions with his agent, the notable Jorge Mendes, about a potential January switch as they look to bolster their wide midfield options. However, it remains to be seen if Gomes still holds belief in his ability to salvage his Barcelona career.

Tottenham's squad is full of vibrant talent and youthful quality, but apart from South Korean winger Son Heung-min they do not seem to have an abundance of wide attacking talent at their disposal. Erik Lamela could also be classed as a winger, but the Argentine is still not available after spending almost a year on the sidelines with hip problems.

Pochettino often relies on his full-backs to provide width and ingenuity on the flanks, but the Tottenham boss is keen on adding another wide attacker. This would allow his squad to play with more variation, while also giving them the ability to utilise different systems. They have seemed recently to rely heavily on their 3-4-2-1 formation, which they may well use against Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday (22 October).