Tottenham are now said to have competition for Marcel Sabitzer in the form of north London rivals Arsenal. The Gunners have emerged as surprise contenders for the RB Leipzig attacking midfielder, who has been identified as a top target by Spurs with just over 18 months remaining on his deal in Germany.
Spurs have been tracking Sabitzer for over two years but they were reminded of his talents back in March when he scored a brace to dump them out of the Champions League.
The Austrian is a versatile player with bags of technical quality who can play across the middle or out wide.
It’s understood that Spurs have identified Sabitzer as a top target as his Leipzig contract runs down.
Yet according to ESPN’s Julian Laurens, Arsenal are also thought to be very keen on the 26-year-old.
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Yet in the boardroom at Leipzig, there is still confidence that Sabitzer will decide to stay put and remain a focal point in Julian Nagelsmann’s team.
“We wanted to end the year first. Both sides will deal with the issue more intensively in the spring,” Leipzig sporting director Markus Krosche recently explained to Bild.
He then added on Tottenham’s reported interest: “As I said, he has made a great development. It goes without saying that other clubs also notice this.
“I don’t like singling out anyone individually. But Marcel Sabitzer has really developed well.
“I also deal with him outside of the field. He accepts the role of captain extremely well and has matured even further as an individual.”
Leipzig value Sabitzer at around £45million and he is regarded as an integral player in the dressing room.
So much so that Nagelsmann decided to make him captain at the beginning of the season, replacing Hungarian defender Willy Orban.
Sabitzer has three goals in nine Bundesliga matches this season for his club with Leipzig third in the table, just two points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich.