Tottenham backed to land ex-Chelsea star with or without Conte, and disastrous signing could move the other way

A former Chelsea centre-half has been talked up as a future Tottenham signing ‘regardless of Conte’s stay or not’, and the inclusion of a £26m flop could make for an ‘attractive exchange’, per a report.

Whether Antonio Conte has a long-term future in north London is still uncertain. The Italian has been backed in the market and multiple problem areas in his squad have been addressed, though whether he’ll sign a new deal is another matter entirely.

Conte’s current contract expires at season’s end and links to what would be a very popular replacement are heightening.

However, a report from Italian outlet calciomercatoweb.it has shed light on a potential Tottenham transfer plan irrespective of whether Conte stays.

They talk up a Spurs move for former Chelsea centre-back, Fikayo Tomori.

The 25-year-old England international was initially loaned to AC Milan in the winter window of 2021.

Tomori joined the Rossoneri outright six months later for around £25m after the option in his loan deal was activated.

The common consensus – given Chelsea have since forked out around £136m on Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly and Benoit Badiashile – is the Blues made a mistake letting Tomori slip through their fingers.

Calcio state Tottenham could put Chelsea’s error in an even brighter spotlight by bringing Tomori back to England.

Aside from a pair of dubious showings against Chelsea in the Champions League earlier this season, Tomori has been a revelation in Italy.

Centre-half is widely believed to be one of two key areas Tottenham will address in the summer. The other is between the sticks in lieu of Hugo Lloris’ remarkable decline of late.

Tottenham can sweeten the deal with dubious makeweight

Calcio add one way in which Tottenham could sweeten a deal is through including Emerson Royal as a makeweight.

The Brazilian was a £25.8m signing from Barcelona and by and large, has been a disastrous signing.

Spurs have subsequently signed Djed Spence and Pedro Porro in Emerson’s right wing-back position. Spence hasn’t fared any better, but much is expected of Porro despite a dismal start against Leicester.

The report reiterates Emerson’s days as a regular starter are now numbered and serving him up to Milan would knock a sizeable chunk off the price of buying Tomori.

How much he’ll cost isn’t speculated, though it stands to reason it’ll be far higher sum than the £25m Milan paid 18 months ago.

In the event Conte does stay, the Italian will hope to sign at least two new centre-halves over the summer.

Clement Lenglet’s loan deal from Barcelona does not contain an option to buy. The Frenchman will return to Spain at season’s end, while the likes of Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez have not filled their manager with confidence this season.

Even the usually dependable Cristian Romero was at fault for the game’s deciding goal against Milan on Tuesday night.

Romero was subsequently branded the ‘worst player’ on the pitch by Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport who handed the Argentine a lowly 4.5 in their player ratings.

READ MORE: Antonio Conte nearing Tottenham exit as next manager named and Daniel Levy issued big advice