Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a fresh boost in their pursuit of Franck Kessie...

What's the word?

According to Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb, AC Milan face an uphill battle in their bid to keep their star midfielder at the San Siro as talks over a new contract extension are at a complete standstill.

Spurs boss Antonio Conte is a 'long time admirer' of the 24-year-old powerhouse, with journalist Rudy Galletti also reporting last month that the north Londoners had agreed on terms.

Kessie is out of contract in the summer, where he will be able to join any club for free, and teams like Spurs are able to open talks as early as January. However, as per the aforementioned report, they face fierce competition from financial heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain for the £25m-rated Ivorian.

Bye-bye Ndombele?

The Milan beast could be an ideal replacement for Tanguy Ndombele, who this week has been heavily mooted with a switch to Serie A giants Juventus ahead of the January transfer window.

Getting rid of his £200k-per-week wages would certainly help the Lilywhites in their attempts to steer Kessie out of the grasp of Mauricio Pochettino's PSG.

Football Insider claim that Conte already has his mind set on offloading the club-record Frenchman and the player himself is attracted by the prospect of playing for a team like Juventus.

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Kessie, who has been dubbed an "extraordinary player" by his former manager Vincenzo Montella and "devastating" by ex-Milan striker Antonio Cassano, would be a perfect successor, fit for the Italian's system in north London.

Due to him deploying a back-three with wing-backs on either flank, Spurs' midfielders can often be isolated in the engine room, so they must be able to get up and down the pitch to deliver in both boxes.

Last season, he provided 13 goals - a feat only bettered by legendary striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (15 goals) - whilst this season, as Stefano Pioli's third-best performer, he has averaged 1.5 tackles, 1.2 key passes and 1.1 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

It's this level of work rate that Conte is desperate to see from Ndombele on the training pitch and those reports claiming that he's willing to sell him suggest that he's yet to do that in the month since the Italian was hired by sporting director Fabio Paratici and chairman Daniel Levy.

Kessie would be a solid signing for Spurs and one that won't cost the club a penny in terms of a transfer fee, so they must look to win the wage battle to secure his signature.

AND in other news, Journalist drops Spurs update amid mounting behind-scenes crisis...