Tottenham Hotspur chief Fabio Paratici could be about to repeat his Cristian Romero masterstroke as he returns to Atalanta for the club's next potential signing.

According to Italian outlet Tutto Atalanta, Spurs are leading the race to sign midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi, who is also wanted by Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest.

It's believed that the north London outfit are aiming to seal a loan-to-buy agreement, just as they did with the Argentina centre-back.

The 24-year-old defender joined Tottenham last summer from the Serie A side on an initial loan deal with an option to buy of £42.5m, as per football.london, which is due to be made permanent before deadline day on September 1st.

Romero has been an instant hit with supporters around N17 for his aggressive style and undoubted defensive quality and now, Paratici and his staff could look to repeat this with his former teammate.

The Ukraine international could help fix the creative void at Spurs, having contributed ten goals and seven assists across all competitions last season, and doing so from a variety of central midfield roles - whether that be as a no.8 or no.10, as per Transfermarkt.

It's no secret that manager Antonio Conte appears to be in the market for a new creative outlet and that's exactly what Malinovskyi can provide, having been dubbed a "playmaker" by journalist Simon Collings.

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As per FBref, the Atalanta star ranks inside the top 6% of his positional peers across Europe for expected assists (0.32 per 90), as well as the top 3% for shots (3.24 per 90) and the top 7% for shot-creating actions (4.99 per 90).

The site also likens the £25m-rated star's statistical profile to that of James Maddison and Mason Mount, so he should be right at home in the Premier League, just as Romero has been.

Adding more goals and assists from midfield could make Conte's Spurs a lethal outfit in all the competitions that they are competing in. Malinovskyi has been described as having a "cannon in his left boot" by ex-player Tony Dorigo.

On the above evidence, the versatile midfielder could be an ideal eighth signing of the summer transfer window and by signing him on an initial loan, Paratici could be looking to repeat his masterstroke with Romero.

It seems like a deal that Spurs should certainly look to complete before the end of the window in less than two weeks' time.

AND in other news, Spurs could seal perfect Conte signing in "complete" £50m gem, he's shades of Kevin De Bruyne...