Tottenham are keeping tabs on Palmeiras' Gabriel Menino ahead of the summer transfer window, as revealed by Calciomercato.

What's the latest transfer news involving Menino?

Menino's development is being monitored by a number of clubs, with Juventus, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid all keen on signing him.

Spurs are also in the race to secure the 20-year-old's signature.

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How much is he worth and when does his contract expire?

According to Transfermarkt, Menino is currently worth £12.6m. This is the highest value of his fledgling career so far.

He only signed a contract extension with Palmeiras last year, which is due to keep him at the club until December 2024.

What are Menino's stats?

Palmeiras have already started 2021 in stunning fashion, winning the Copa Libertadores and Copa do Brasil in the opening months of the year. Both competitions were postponed from last year due to the ongoing global crisis.

In his most recent Serie A campaign with the Brazilian club, Menino made 27 appearances, and registered six assists (via WhoScored). Only Harry Kane (13) and Son Heung-min (9) have recorded more assists for Spurs in the Premier League in 2020/21.

Menino would also rank third at Spurs when it comes to key passes, having made 40 in Serie A. Once again, Son (60) and Kane (41) top Tottenham's rankings in this category.

What's been said about Menino?

Menino is extremely versatile, having operated in a number of different positions over the past 12 months. Earlier this year, Breaking the Lines broke down his main attributes, which have allowed him to play in central midfield and as a right-back, and compared him to a current Champions League winner.

They said: "Perhaps the most similar player to Menino in terms of his physical build and technical attributes (save the gap in quality) is Joshua Kimmich. Similarly to Menino, Kimmich is a natural midfielder who has impressed in a wide variety of positions including centre-back and right back.

"Both players have similar numbers in terms of their attacking actions, crosses, completed dribbles, and progressive runs. These attributes demonstrate Menino’s importance in the first phase of build-up, as his ability to retain possession, his skill at dribbling and evading the pressure, his change of pace to gain separation from his opponent, and his passing quality makes him one of the most press-resistant players in Brazil."

Levy's chance to end run of transfer disasters?

Back in 2016/17, Spurs arguably had two of the best right-backs in the league at their disposal in Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier. At the end of that season, Walker departed for Manchester City, and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has lurched from one disaster to the next when dealing with this position ever since.

Two years later, Trippier moved on to Atletico, and he was soon followed by Kyle Walker-Peters, who only ever made 24 appearances for the first-team.

Levy replaced Walker-Peters with Matt Doherty, who was a fine wing-back at Wolves. There was just one problem: Jose Mourinho played with a flat back four during most of his tenure, and thus Doherty has looked like a fish out of water for Spurs. 

Spurs have been stuck this season with Doherty and Serge Aurier, a player who Mourinho did not seem to rate particularly highly. Both men are in their late 20s and have done little to suggest that they can improve Tottenham's defence in the long run. 

Levy needs to find a solution, and in Menino, he may just have stumbled across the ideal addition to Tottenham's squad. Menino has been compared to Kimmich, and recently displaced Dani Alves in the Brazil setup, so he clearly has a lot of potential. 

At 20, he is still likely to have his best days ahead of him, and in time he may finally fix a problem that started for Spurs four years ago.