Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Tottenham go on the attack for ‘cornerstone’ of Euro giant’s team, as erratic Spurs man offered in return

Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong and Stefan de Vrij

Tottenham are being tipped to sign the ‘cornerstone’ of Inter Milan’s starting eleven, and they could offer an unreliable defender to the Italian club in return.

Tottenham sit fourth in the Premier League table after 15 matches. Their form has been slightly unconvincing recently, as they have lost matches to Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool in the league, as well as being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Nottingham Forest.

However, Spurs have also showed great fight and determination to pick up wins from losing positions in the Prem. They went 2-0 down against Bournemouth on October 29 but staged a brilliant second-half comeback at the Vitality Stadium to win 3-2.

And they were in a similar mood when Leeds visited north London on Saturday.

Spurs went behind on three occasions but somehow managed to drag themselves level each time. And Rodrigo Bentancur won the match for Antonio Conte’s men in the 83rd minute when he secured his brace.

The three points helped Spurs keep up with Newcastle United, who occupy third spot. Spurs are also within reach of Manchester City following their loss to Brentford.

However, Conte’s side are not exactly showing defensive solidity. They have conceded 21 goals in the league this season, which is more than 17th-placed Everton.

Clearly, Conte could do with adding a couple of top-quality defenders to his squad. And this is where director of football Fabio Paratici comes in, as he is tasked with sorting out new signings for Conte.

Tottenham want Netherlands star

On November 11, Football Insider produced a report on Spurs’ chase to sign Stefan de Vrij from Inter. The centre-back is out of contract at the end of the season and could finalise a pre-contract agreement with Spurs from January 1, under the Bosman ruling.

Inter are working hard to tie De Vrij down to fresh terms. But if they are unsuccessful, then they will have to admit defeat and sell him in January.

De Vrij has previously held a £40million valuation. However, Inter would not be able to hold out for anywhere near this sum if he decided against penning a new deal. There is the possibility of the 30-year-old moving on for less than half of his previous price tag.

An update on the transfer pursuit now comes from Italian outlet CalcioMercatoWeb. They reveal how Spurs are hoping to ‘satisfy’ Conte in the winter market to prevent him from considering a switch to Juventus.

And capturing De Vrij, one of the ‘cornerstones’ of Inter’s team, is one of their main objectives. They are keeping tabs on the defender’s situation and will go on the attack as soon as they find out he is available for transfer.

Spurs have more financial might than Inter and will be able to hand De Vrij a huge pay rise as a result. Spurs chiefs hope this is one of the reasons why the Dutchman will choose them over an Inter stay.

Defender could follow Ivan Perisic

De Vrij could end up treading a similar path to versatile wide man Ivan Perisic. He ran down his contract at the San Siro before moving to Spurs in the summer on a free transfer.

The report also claims Spurs could sweeten the deal for Inter by allowing one of their players to head off to Italy. Davinson Sanchez is the man in question, as he has failed to convince Conte during the manager’s spell at the club.

Sanchez has regularly proven himself to be an erratic and unreliable centre-half. Therefore, Conte has no qualms about him leaving.

Spurs have been backed to let Sanchez go on loan to Inter for the remainder of the season. There would be no loan fee involved.

Inter would then have the opportunity to buy Sanchez for £13-16m next summer, should he turn things around and impress.

Getting rid of Sanchez and bringing De Vrij in would be a fantastic piece of business for Spurs. De Vrij has proven himself to be a brilliant defender both in the Serie A and Champions League. His arrival should help to reduce the amount of goals Spurs are conceding.

Sanchez, in contrast, is taking up space on the wage bill as he rarely features for a full 90 minutes under Conte.

Meanwhile, another Spurs flop could be on his way out for £30m, according to a report.