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Rob Guest & Bobby Vincent

Tottenham behind the scenes: Kulusevski and Bentancur deals close, fresh right wing-back hope

It's a very busy day in north London as Tottenham look to finish the January transfer window off with a bang.

Antonio Conte has made no secret of his determination to improve the Spurs squad before tonight's 11pm transfer deadline.

It now seems that Fabio Paratici and Daniel Levy are looking to back Conte in the transfer market, but Tottenham face a race against the clock to complete any last-minute deals.

So with this being said, football.london goes behind the scenes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Spurs reporter Rob Guest answering questions regarding the transfer window throughout deadline day.

Could a right wing-back be signed?

Rob Guest said: "Fabio Paratici will try to bring in a new right wing-back and hopefully that will be the case.

"It has been a priority position for Tottenham this month but Paratici doesn't exactly have a lot of time left ahead of this evening's 11pm transfer deadline. That could potentially have an impact on Matt Doherty as he has been linked with an exit."

Will Spurs be prioritising work-rate over creativity?

Rob Guest said: "It perhaps is a surprise for many that the likes of Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso could be on the move today as Antonio Conte did mention after the win at Leicester City that Tottenham are short on creative players.

"However, there just isn't room for them in his setup unless he's going to tweak his system slightly. Conte's teams do always work extremely hard, thus explaining Spurs' running stats drastically improving, but they do need to improve their creativity.

"Dejan Kulusevski has proved in the past that he can chips in with goals and assists, while Spurs are going to need more from their wing-backs in the remaining months.

"It will likely be more about work rate until they can strike the right balance and solve their creativity woes for good."

What are the details of the Kulusevski move?

Rob Guest said: "We reported yesterday that the deal is expected to be a loan one but with an option to buy for £33m, which then becomes an obligation if certain criteria are met. Fabio Paratici does tend to operate this way with loan deals that can become permanent, with the deals for Cristian Romero and Pierluigi Gollini structured like this."

Will Alli return to Tottenham?

Rob Guest said: "Dele Alli ideally needs to move away on a permanent deal for the sake of his career. Having no place in Antonio Conte's system right now as it stands, that just isn't going to change for him come next campaign unless the head coach springs a major surprise and changes his formation.

"A January loan move could really work in Spurs' favour if he excels somewhere else and that see his valuation increase as a result."

Will Alli leave and will there any other incomings than Kulusevski and Bentancur?

Rob Guest said: "Tottenham will continue to monitor for any late opportunities that will arise in the market up until the deadline but the expectation is that Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur will be the only two arrivals on deadline day.

"In terms of Dele Alli, he needs to depart for the sake of his own career as opportunities aren't going to come his way at Tottenham.

"Everton are believed to be keen but they would only be able to sign him permanently as Donny van de Beek's imminent arrival will fill up their two loan spaces from fellow Premier League clubs."

Will Foyth return if Lo Celso leaves?

Rob Guest said: "Would Juan Foyth want to return to Tottenham? He features regularly for Villarreal now and has done well at right-back for them.

"I don't think right wing-back would be the best position for him as he is more of a defensive player rather than someone like Serge Aurier for instance who likes to attack. Options would be limited for him at centre-back with Cristian Romero returning soon."

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