Tottenham become preferred bidders for inconsistent defender after direct offer as asking price drops below £19m

Tottenham Hotspur continue to be pushed forward as the potential takers of Roma defender Roger Ibanez by reports in the Italian media.

Ibanez is expected to be sold by Roma this month because of their need to comply with strict Financial Fair Play parameters by the end of June. Tottenham have long since established an interest in the centre-back.

Reports recently suggested that an official offer could be in the pipeline. These could be critical days in determining his future, since Roma’s general manager Tiago Pinto is currently in London (and head coach Jose Mourinho has been pictured there with him too).

He is mainly negotiating to sign Gianluca Scamacca from West Ham, but also has the intention of finding out how serious Tottenham are about taking Ibanez, according to La Gazzetta Dello Sport.

The Italian newspaper claims that Tottenham could sign Ibanez for an up-front fee as low as €22m (£18.8m). Ideally, Roma want to earn €30m (£25.7m) from the move, but they would accept a lower fee towards €25m (£21.4m) if bonuses are to follow.

Given that Roma will owe Ibanez’s former club 10% of any transfer fee, they will be carefully assessing which potential bids are worth it – which is where Spurs could come in.

According to Il Messaggero, Pinto has directly offered Ibanez to Tottenham (as well as, interestingly, Chelsea), which correlates with Il Corriere Dello Sport saying that the Roma director wants to try and convert the interest of other clubs in the Brazil international into concrete bids.

Tottenham turn to Ibanez for defensive revolution

Spurs seem to be the obvious candidate to satisfy Roma’s demands for Ibanez. Defence is an area they could do with strengthening for incoming head coach, Ange Postecoglou.

There have already been suggestions that time could be up for the likes of Ben Davies, Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier. In turn, Tottenham will need to find more reliable reinforcements.

The trouble is, Ibanez and the word ‘reliable’ don’t always go together. His form for Roma over the past couple of seasons has been inconsistent.

At times, the 24-year-old has looked dominant and powerful. On other occasions, though, he has made costly, game-changing errors in big matches.

The other factor Tottenham must take into account is that Ibanez has become used to playing in a back three under Mourinho. Spurs have used similar systems when Antonio Conte was in charge, but Postecoglou might prefer a back four.

Nevertheless, Ibanez still has time on his side to develop aspects of his game, both tactically and technically.

Therefore, Tottenham could offer him his first taste of Premier League football within a couple of weeks. It seems like a transfer will have to happen soon, rather than dragging on through the summer, because of the situation his current employers are in.

Spurs do not have any European football to offer to Ibanez, who was a Europa League finalist with Roma last month, next season. But Postecoglou will be hoping to build a brighter future for the club as his project commences.

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