Tottenham Hotspur had a tremendous start to the Premier League campaign under Ange Postecoglou but consecutive defeats, spurred on by a sudden injury crisis, have brought the side back down the earth.

James Maddison suffered a devastating blow to the ankle in the first half of last week's clash against Chelsea, with the England international set to be sidelined for the remainder of the year, while Richarlison will be absent for a prolonged period of time, having had an operation on his pubic bone.

Postecoglou is seeking reinforcements ahead of the January transfer window to add depth and quality to his attacking department and the Australian may have identified the perfect signing for Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer targets – Jota

Having moved from Celtic to Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad in the summer for £25m, Jota could be available as a free agent soon, with Tottenham said to be interested in signing the Portuguese winger, according to 90min. Nevertheless, the outlet are also claiming that Spurs could even make a move for the forward if he remains under contract at his current club, providing Al-Ittihad's price tag isn't too extortionate.

The 24-year-old has featured just seven times in all competitions for the Saudi Arabian giants since joining back in July but has accumulated merely 296 minutes on the pitch in total. Jota was left out of Al-Ittihad's squad as the league allows the registration of only eight foreign players and it has been widely reported that the two-time Scottish champion could be released from his current deal as a result.

Postecoglou brought Jota to Celtic during his reign in Scotland and now could be set to reunite with the attacker, who BBC pundit and ex-player Marvin Bartley once called a "striker's dream" in Glasgow.

Jota's stats at Celtic

At Celtic Park last season, Jota outperformed all expectations, registering 27 goal contributions in all competitions, including 16 goals and 11 assists. Only the Scottish Premiership's top goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi found the net more times than Jota. Furthermore, the exciting winger finished second in the assists table, one behind ex-teammate Matt O'Riley last term.

Ange got the very best out of Jota once before and could certainly do it again, although the Australian would need to rethink his forward line a little. With Richarlison out for a number of weeks, club captain Heung-min Son led the forward line during Spurs' 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, a position he has played in 117 times in his illustrious career.

Given that Richarlison has bagged just two goals this season anyway and Son is Tottenham's top scorer, Postecoglou may look to stick with the latter up top. This would leave the left flank open for Jota's arrival.

While Jota is an excellent goalscorer from wide positions, his creativity is just as appetising and he could link up incredibly well with Maddison when the Englishman returns from his ankle injury.

Assists

0.4

0.49

Expected Assists

0.25

0.33

Progressive Carries

5

2.96

Progressive Passes

3.44

9.9

Goals

0.47

0.29

Expected Goals

0.29

0.29

Key Passes

2.81

3.16

Passes to the Penalty Area

4.06

3.27

Stats via FBref

Nonetheless, Jota can play on both the left and right wing, as well as down the middle if needed so it could be relatively simple for Ange to shoehorn the forward into his lineup. This would be a tremendous signing for Spurs given Jota's versatility and tremendous output in European football.