An update has emerged on Tottenham Hotspur and their interest in Inter's Stefan de Vrij in the summer transfer window...
What's the talk?
Journalist Paul Brown has claimed that the Dutchman, alongside Villarreal gem Pau Torres, is a player the club have their eye on.
Fabio Paratici is plotting a swoop for a centre-back this summer and the reporter believes that the Inter gem is one of Tottenham's top targets for that position.
He told GIVEMESPORT: “In terms of defenders, there is still De Vrij at Inter – who Conte is a big fan of – and also Pau Torres, I think, is someone they’ve liked for a long time.
“Those two would look to be in pole position, but there’s plenty of names and I think a few more might crop up in the next few weeks.”
Conte's new Leonardo Bonucci
The Spurs head coach has managed some extraordinary teams throughout his career in management and worked with world-class players along the way.
[snack-amp-story url= "https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-much-more" title= "Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!"]
He has managed Juventus, Italy, Chelsea and Inter, among others, and no centre-back has played more times under him than Bonucci. The machine - who has won nine Serie A titles - made 136 appearances under Antonio Conte for Juventus and Italy combined over the course of five campaigns.
In De Vrij, the Italian manager can find his new version of the Old Lady tank by working with him in a second team after managing him at Inter. The Spurs boss previously called the Dutchman "important" and "like Bonucci" and must now snap him up for £15m this summer.
He was once dubbed a "monster" by his former Lazio teammate Mauricio and his statistics in the Serie A in recent seasons back that up.
In the last seven league campaigns in Italy, De Vrij has only averaged a SofaScore rating lower than 7.03 in one year - playing for Inter and Lazio. He has shown remarkable consistency as he has proven that he can produce excellent performances week-in-week-out in Italy.
With Conte at the helm in the 2020/21 campaign, the centre-back averaged a score of 7.03 and played 32 times in the Italian top flight. He won 60% of his duels and helped the team to keep 11 clean sheets as he made himself a player the manager can rely on.
The pair can now reunite at Spurs and De Vrij can be the manager's new version of Bonucci, becoming a pillar at the back for him in a second team.
AND in other news: Conte could land Spurs masterclass in deal for "explosive" £30m gem, he's Foden-esque...