Paratici gamble fails, as ambitious Rodrigo de Paul offer by Tottenham immediately chalked off

Tottenham have reportedly failed with an approach for Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo de Paul, who is instead happy to stay in Spain.

Spurs have wasted no time in bolstering their ranks this summer ahead of what looks like being an exciting season. Not only can they say they are looking to maintain and push on from a top-four Premier League finish, but they are back in the Champions League.

And manager Antonio Conte has made adding to his midfield a key priority since he arrived in November.

The Italian brought Rodrigo Bentancur to Tottenham from Juventus in January. More recently, Spurs signed Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma.

Tottenham have since focused on other areas of their pitch, including centre-back and striker.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, though, that has not stopped director of football Fabio Paratici going after another midfielder in De Paul.

The report in fact claims that the 28-year-old has offers from ‘several clubs’, with Serie A side Fiorentina another suitor.

However, De Paul has rejected all those advances, insisting that he wants to stay in the Spanish capital.

He only moved to Atletico last summer, leaving Udinese after interest from Leeds United among others.

De Paul played 48 games in his debut season for Atletico, including 36 out of 38 La Liga games. The Argentina international mostly played in the centre of midfield, but played in more defensive and attacking roles on occasion.

And with his contract running for another four years yet, he remains fully focused on delivering for Diego Simeone next term.

De Paul knows that, ahead of the World Cup in November, his crucial role for Atletico stands him in good stead to lead his country out.

Indeed, the midfielder has played in all but two of Argentina’s last 40 games.

De Paul move fails as Tottenham look to bolster

Conte has won the Premier League before – with Chelsea – and so is translating that know-how into his tenure at Spurs.

Bentancur and Bissouma have significantly bolstered Tottenham’s options, but Conte knows he needs a deep squad if Spurs are to manage expectations in all four competitions.

Indeed, the aim is simply for Tottenham to end their trophy drought.

Tottenham could well look to further add to their midfield despite seemingly losing out on De Paul this summer.

They could yet lose Harry Winks who, despite looking to leave to increase his game time, is nevertheless another squad option.