After playing on loan for Groningen and Schalke 04, Itakura finally left Manchester City without playing a single game for the team when he signed a permanent deal to join Monchengladbach in July 2022.

The Japanese player made 25 starts for the German club in his first season. He has since played seven times in the Bundesliga this season, but has been out since October with an ankle ιnjury.

Itakura’s deal with Monchengladbach has more than two years left on it, and the club sees the defender as an important part of their first team when he’s healthy.

But the 26-year-old is said to have gotten attention from a number of top European clubs, which has made people wonder about his long-term future with the Bundesliga team.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano told CaughtOffside that Liverpool sent scouts to watch Itakura play several times last year.

Tottenham is also said to be keeping an eye on the Japanese back. Ange Postecoglou was interested in him when he played for Celtic.

Since it is now 2024, Romano thinks it is important to keep an eye on Itakura’s prospects because he wants to move to the Premier League. Liverpool and Tottenham are two clubs that could try to start talks with Monchengladbach in January or next summer.

Liverpool is rumored to want to get a new central defender during the winter transfer window. This is because Joel Matip tore his ACL in early December and will miss the rest of the season.

But Jurgen Klopp still has four center-backs to choose from: Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, and Jarell Quansah. The Reds manager has played down the idea of getting someone to replace Matip in the past.

Spurs are expected to add to their defensive choices since Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are both injured and can’t play right now. Eric Dier and 18-year-old Ashley Phillips are the only known center backs for the club.

Phillips, on the other hand, hasn’t played for the North Londoners yet, and Dier doesn’t seem to be needed by Postecoglou, who has recently chosen to play fullbacks Ben Davies and Emerson Royal in the middle of the defense.

At the moment, Tottenham’s main defensive target for January is thought to be Radu Dragusin of Genoa. According to a new story, they hope to complete the deal to sign the Romanian by the end of this week.