Tottenham Hotspur are close to completing a move for Club Brugge (Belgium) winger Antonio Nusa, who has been monitored by the club, to Brentford, according to transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano.
“Brentford have reached an agreement with Brugge over the transfer of Nusa,” Romano said.
According to the report, Club Brugge and Brentford have agreed on a transfer for a fee in excess of €30 million.
“Nusa is also positive about moving to Brentford,” Romano said, adding that “Nusa will join Brentford after next June.”
Noosa has recently been linked with a move to Tottenham. After signing Timo Werner and Radja Nainggolan in the winter transfer window, Spurs have been looking at Noussa as an option for the future. Noussa is a winger with pace and dribbling ability, and has been touted as a long-term replacement for Son Heung-min.
It has been suggested that he has a lot of room to grow, especially under head coach Ange Postecoglou, who utilizes an attacking style of play. “Under Postecoglou, Noussa could be the perfect player,” said The Guardian. Spurs are a team that likes to have the ball in the final third. This is the kind of environment where Noussa can thrive,” said the Guardian.
Tottenham’s pursuit of Noosa has been aggressive, with the English outlet Evening Standard reporting today that Spurs and Brugge are close to finalizing a deal for Noosa.
Noosa is a promising youngster at Brugge, a club that specializes in developing young players. He came up through the youth ranks of Norwegian side Stavanger Portvall and made his professional debut for Stavanger in 2021. That year, Brugge recognized his potential and offered him a contract.
After making regular appearances for Brugge’s first team in the 2022-23 season at the age of 17, Nusa scored in the UEFA Champions League that year, becoming the youngest goalscorer in the competition’s history. This season, at the age of 18, he has established himself as a regular starter. He has two goals and two assists in 14 games and has also made nine appearances in the UEFA Conference League, including the qualifiers.
Noosa is described by Futbol as “a dynamic and explosive striker who can play across the front line”.
“He is most comfortable playing on the left wing, where he can cut inside and receive the ball with his natural right foot,” said Futbol.com. “Once inside, he is an attacking-minded player who can pass to players coming in from behind, but his main tendency is to score goals from the left half space. He is also a very agile dribbler and what he may lack in pace, he more than makes up for with his quick changes of direction that baffle defenders.”
“In one-on-one situations, he’s a nightmare (for defenders), but he needs to refine his final product,” he said, adding, “He’s only 18 and hasn’t played in a top-five league yet, so he doesn’t need to scare teams. The coach can turn him into a top team attacker.”
“In defense, Noosa’s abilities are a coach’s dream,” he continued, “he diligently tracks the opposition and doesn’t allow opposing wingers to go one-on-one with the fullback.”
“Those are great qualities to have at such a young age and he fits perfectly into the modern gegenpressing side of the game. Watching Noosa in action is like watching a young Sadio Mane.”
In September last year, according to a Football Transfer Tavern report about Chelsea’s interest in Noussa, Noussa cited Neymar as a role model, saying, “I like to create chaos. Neymar is my role model because he creates chaos on the pitch with his dribbling, just like me. One of the best players for me.”
Mar Scholheim, who played alongside Noussa at Stabach, said: “Noussa’s movements and the way he handles the ball are similar to Neymar. There is still a gap between them, but I think he can reach Neymar.”