A claim has emerged regarding Tottenham Hotspur and their interest in signing Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni next year...

What's the talk?

Journalist Carlo Garganese has claimed that the central defender is likely to be on the club's radar heading into the summer transfer window in 2023.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “They were pushing for him last summer when Tottenham were looking for centre-backs, they wanted a left-sided centre-back and they ended up going for Lenglet, but we don’t know if that’s going to be a long-term solution there.

“I’m sure he’s on their list, he was definitely on their list this summer, obviously there’s still a way to go before next summer but I’m sure he’s still on there."

It was reported, by Gazzetta, that Inter are looking for a fee in the region of €60m (£52m) to allow the Italian international to depart the San Siro, although it remains to be seen whether or not Spurs are willing to match that.

Lenglet upgrade

Antonio Conte bolstered his defence in the previous summer window by swooping to sign French defender Clement Lenglet on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season.

The former Sevilla enforcer has endured a difficult start to life in London as he has struggled for game time and hardly set the world alight when he has made it onto the pitch.

Lenglet has started seven Premier League games for Spurs this season and averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.67, whilst winning 64% of his individual duels.

This comes after he averaged a score of 6.67 and won 44% of his battles in 21 appearances for Barcelona in the Spanish top-flight last term.

The left-footed Frenchman suits the outside centre-back role in Conte's three-man defence but his statistics indicate that he is not performing to a high level in that position, which was also the case for his parent club in 2021/22.

Whereas Bastoni, who Conor Clancy once dubbed a "phenomenon", has been in strong form for Inter since the start of last season and has the potential to be a big upgrade on Lenglet for Tottenham.

The Italian international, who is also naturally left-footed, averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.10 and won 60% of his duels across 31 outings in the Serie A last term, whilst he is averaging a score of 6.87 in the current campaign.

Bastoni, 23, is also four years younger than the current Spurs defender and this means that he has more potential in the long-term, as he is a player Conte can work with over time to develop and hone his skills.

Therefore, the Inter star, who has been described as "dominant" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, would be a big upgrade on Lenglet. Their respective performances over the past 18 months and their age gap indicate that Conte would be far better off with the Italian enforcer in his squad for the 2023/24 season.