Biggest Tottenham competition for Serie A signing revealed amid clarity on price tag – Sources

Tottenham Hotspur have shown concrete interest in signing Koni De Winter, though Serie A clubs are ready to battle Thomas Frank’s side for the Genoa star, sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk.

It emerged on Tuesday that Tottenham have burst into the race for De Winter as they hunt a versatile defender who can strengthen several positions including centre-back. De Winter has impressed Tottenham recruitment chiefs as he can operate as either a centre-half or full-back and is building up a great reputation in Italy.

TEAMtalk can confirm that Spurs are keen on the Belgium international, but they face a fight to bring him to the Premier League.

Sources state that Inter Milan are the Italian club most active in the chase for De Winter’s services. The player has been on their shortlist for months as an alternative to their main target, Giovanni Leoni, who is valued at €40million (£34.5m / $47m) by Parma.

Other outlets have claimed that De Winter will cost £30m (€35m / $40m), but TEAMtalk understands he could actually leave Genoa for €25-30m (up to £26m / $35m), which is a more reasonable sum for Inter to pay compared with Leoni’s price tag.

Inter are also considering including Valentin Carboni, a player Genoa like, in the deal to reduce the cost of signing De Winter.

This affordable price has also caught the attention of other Italian teams such as Atalanta, Napoli, and AC Milan, who have recently gathered updated information about the player.

However, Genoa are not open to discounts, especially since they must give 20 per cent of any resale fee to Juventus.

Spurs’ interest is still alive, but they are hesitant to go above €25m and are currently deciding whether to make a formal offer for De Winter or shift focus to other targets.

Meanwhile, Everton and several Bundesliga clubs – as TEAMtalk reported in March – are still monitoring his situation, though there have been no recent developments on these fronts.
With many teams involved, De Winter’s future is still wide open.

So far this summer, Spurs have made deals for Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel permanent while also signing Kota Takai from Kawasaki Frontale for £5m (€6m / $7m).

Mohammed Kudus will be the next player through the door at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as a £55m (€64m / $74.5m) deal has been agreed with West Ham United for the versatile forward.

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Meanwhile, a report has explained why West Ham have agreed to sell Kudus for less than they were originally holding out for.

Frank is also urging Spurs to raid his former club Brentford for one of their best performers.

The prospective transfer could affect Manchester United’s chances of signing Bryan Mbeumo, too.

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