Tottenham Hotspur remain keen on a deal to bring Antony Gordon to north London this summer.
What's the talk?
That's according to a report by football.london, who claim that, despite Chelsea looking to be leading the race for the Everton winger over the closing stages of the summer transfer window - with Thomas Tuchel's side having seen a recent £45m bid rejected for the 21-year-old - Antonio Conte remains very strongly interested in the England U21 international.
However, the report goes on to state that, although Gordon is believed to be extremely keen to work with the 52-year-old Spurs manager, while also being tempted by the fact Tottenham could offer him Champions League football, the Liverpool-born forward is reluctant to push for a move away from his boyhood club prior to September's transfer deadline.
Conte's "dream" signing
While it is undeniable that £45m+ would be an enormous fee for Spurs to pay for a player who has started just 33 Premier League fixtures in his career, considering how well suited Gordon would appear to be to Conte's tactical setup at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it is not difficult to see why the 52-year-old is so eager to bring the youngster to north London.
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Indeed, according to FBref, the £25m-rated talent ranks in the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe's big five leagues and European competitions for blocks per 90, in addition to the top 4% for tackles, the top 6% for pressures and the top 20% for pressures over the last 365 days - proving just how hard the 21-year-old works in a defensive capacity, a trait that Conte is known to favour in his attackers.
Furthermore, despite playing for a Toffees side who scored just 43 league goals last season - the joint fifth-worst record in the division - the £10k-per-week winger still managed to impress going forwards over his 35 Premier League fixtures in 2021/22, scoring four goals, registering two assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.3 shots, making one key pass and completing 1.1 dribbles per game.
As such, while Everton's asking price for the player who David Unsworth dubbed "unbelievable" is somewhat on the high side, should Tottenham manage to get a deal over the line for the Everton starlet in the coming days, considering his ability in the final third and tireless work rate when tracking back, Gordon could well prove to be a "dream" - in the words of Frank Lampard - signing for Conte's side.