An update has emerged on Tottenham Hotspur and their pursuit of Ruslan Malinovskyi ahead of the January transfer window...

What's the talk?

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Antonio Conte is still keen on a deal to snap up the Ukrainian international heading into the second half of the campaign.

He told GIVEMESPORT: "Now it’s on Atalanta to decide if they want to let him go or not.

“Tottenham remain interested in Malinovskyi, but they are not negotiating with Atalanta. That’s because the conditions of the deal right now are not what Tottenham wanted.”

It has been reported that the Serie A side want a fee in the region of £16m for his services and it remains to be seen how much Spurs are willing to pay to land him.

Imagine him & Kane

Conte is seemingly looking to strengthen the depth and quality of his squad in the January window and bringing Malinovskyi in would add another excellent playmaker to provide Harry Kane with service at the top end of the pitch.

Spurs have a top-class centre-forward who has proven, over the course of a number of years, that he can consistently find the back of the net if he is presented the opportunities in front of goal.

He has scored 262 goals in 409 matches for the club in all competitions and has plundered 53 goals in 80 caps for England at international level.

Kane has scored 13 goals in 16 Premier League matches this season so far and bringing in a playmaker of Malinovskyi's quality could provide the forward with more chances in front of goal.

Since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, the Atalanta magician has created 36 big chances in 46 Serie A starts - registering 18 assists in that time. This suggests that he is delivering quality opportunities to his teammates on a regular basis but has not been rewarded with as many finishing touches as his passes have deserved.

Now, imagine a player of Kane's quality getting onto the end of Malinovskyi's through balls and crosses into the box. They could make for a frightening duo if the Ukraine international is able to translate his form in Italy over to England as his statistics indicate that he has the potential to be an assist machine for Spurs.

The 29-year-old, whose left foot was compared to a "cannon" by pundit Tony Dorigo, appears to have the quality to be an excellent signing, on paper, for Tottenham and Fabio Paratici must now work hard to add him to Conte's squad next month.