Priority Tottenham centre-back target revealed as Paratici forced to settle on Clement Lenglet

A report has revealed Tottenham were hoping to sign a Paris Saint-Germain defender before being forced to settle with Clement Lenglet.

France international Lenglet will work under Antonio Conte next season after joining Tottenham on a season-long loan. There is no option to buy as part of the deal, with Lenglet expected to re-join Barcelona in summer 2023.

Lenglet, 27, will give Conte another option as part of a back three. Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez are also at his disposal, among others.

In his first interview as a Tottenham player, the centre-half said: “When you speak to a player who plays in the Premier League, they say it is a beautiful league where you fight every week and it’s very hard to win.

“I’m very happy to be here, to be in this city, at this club. I speak with friends, with my family, to take my decision. And all the words were very, very good speaking about the club.”

Lenglet also spoke about Hugo Lloris’ impact on his decision to join, calling the goalkeeper a ‘Tottenham legend’.

Despite plenty of Spurs fans being happy with the Lenglet capture, it appears he wasn’t Fabio Paratici’s first choice to bolster central defence.

According to Spurs Web, who cite French source L’Equipe, the north London outfit were hoping to land Abdou Diallo of PSG.

Spurs capture Clement Lenglet after avoiding PSG man

They began initial discussions with PSG over his signing. However, Spurs were put off by Diallo’s price tag – £25.3m.

Chairman Daniel Levy has already forked out £25m on Yves Bissouma and £60m to sign Richarlison from Everton. So it would make sense if he didn’t want to spend another £25.3m on Diallo, who has won 17 caps for Senegal.

PSG were willing to let him go, but only if they got back the full fee they paid Borussia Dortmund for him three years ago.

Spurs did not want to play ball and began targeting Lenglet instead. He didn’t cost anywhere near as much due to it being a loan.

The transfer decision makes sense for Spurs as they have already strong centre-back options. So spending a decent amount of money improving the position further would have been a waste.

Instead, they have brought in a good player for the upcoming campaign – and without breaking the bank.

Meanwhile, one of Sergio Reguilon’s former clubs is eyeing him up after his omission from Spurs’ pre-season squad.