Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly considering a move for Napoli centre-back Nikola Maksimovic and if he were to join the North London club, he could be an upgrade on Eric Dier.
According to Italian news outlet Spazio Napoli (via FourFourTwo), Jose Mourinho is keeping tabs on the Serbian defender, who is out of contract at the end of this season.
Spurs could even complete a cut-price deal for 29-year-old this month, although they are currently free to begin negotiations with Maksimovic with the view to signing him on a free transfer in the summer.
Mourinho's side struggled from a defensive point of view in their defeat against Liverpool on Thursday night, with both Dier and young Joe Rodon making mistakes that led to goals, which suggests that defensive additions are necessary if the Portuguese manager does want to challenge for the title this season, or next.
Maksimovic could represent a cheap, experienced option, as he has managed 86 appearances for Napoli in his career thus far, including plenty of appearances in the Europa League and Champions League.
The Serbian's performances in Serie A this season have earned him a 6.69 average rating, although he has been limited to just five starts, whilst Dier has averaged a 6.73 rating in the Premier League from 18 starts.
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However, when given a consistent run of games in the Europa League, the Napoli centre-back has averaged a stronger 6.89 rating for his performances.
Maksimovic also scores much higher when it comes to passing when compared with Dier, registering a 94.8% pass success rate in Italy's top-flight, whereas Dier has managed a much lower 82.2% pass accuracy on average.
The Serbian has also managed more tackles, more interceptions and fewer fouls on average than the England international, which suggests that he would be a strong addition to Mourinho's squad.
Therefore, if Daniel Levy can complete a bargain deal for the 6 ft 4 centre-back this month, he could be the man to replace Dier in this Tottenham side, which based on recent performances from the former Sporting Lisbon man, can only be a good thing.
And, in other news... Forget Di Maria: Levy can sign Jose a goalscoring winger and he won't cost a penny