Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Antonio Silva to north London in the January transfer window.
What's the talk?
That's according to Dean Jones, who revealed in a recent article for GIVEMESPORT that Antonio Conte is desperate to strengthen his defensive options in the winter market, with a new centre-back expected to arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium prior to the January 31 deadline.
The transfer insider went on to state that one player the 53-year-old manager could be interested in is SL Benfica's Silva, the 19-year-old who has impressed so highly during his breakthrough campaign at the Estádio da Luz that Fernando Santos included the youngster in his Portugal squad for the upcoming World Cup.
However, Spurs are not the only side believed to be keen on the teenager, with Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain all reported to be keeping a close eye on the centre-back, with PSG said to be preparing an offer in the region of £90m for the Viseu-born talent.
Sky is the limit
Considering just how astonishing Silva's rapid rise to stardom has been, it is not difficult to understand why Tottenham - as well as a number of European heavyweights - would be interested in a move for the 19-year-old in the January transfer window.
Indeed, over his 10 Liga Portugal appearances this season, the £13m-rated talent has been in sensational form, helping his side keep five clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.7 interceptions, 2.0 tackles, 3.0 clearances and winning 4.9 duels - at a success rate of 64% - per game.
The £7.4k-per-week defender has also impressed going forwards, hitting the back of the net on two occasions, as well as completing an average of 66.1 passes, playing 5.7 long balls and taking one shot per fixture.
These returns have seen the player who Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig claimed the "sky is the limit" for average a simply breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.45, not only ranking him as Roger Schmidt's fourth-best performer in the league but also as the eighth-best player in the Portuguese top flight as a whole.
Furthermore, the 19-year-old also caught the eye over his six Champions League outings, helping his side keep one clean sheet, scoring one goal and creating one big chance, in addition to making an average of 1.8 interceptions, 1.5 tackles, 4.2 clearances and winning 3.0 duels - at a success rate of 58% - per game.
These metrics saw the player who Kulig also dubbed a "crazy" talent average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.12, ranking him as Benfica's ninth-best player in Europe's most prestigious club competition - helping the Águias top a group that included PSG, Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.
Further still, based on his 897 minutes played in the Champions League, FBref rank Silva in the top 1% of centre-backs in Europe's big five leagues for non-penalty goals per 90, as well as the top 5% for shots, the top 4% for passes attempted, the top 1% for passes completed, the top 13% for progressive passes, the top 9% for tackles and the top 26% for interceptions over the last 365 days.
As such, with the defender being both a play-playing and adventurous centre-back, it would appear as if the Portuguese starlet would indeed represent a fantastic addition to Conte's current options at the back, leading us to believe that the 53-year-old must do everything in his power to land Silva this winter - as the sky would very much seem the limit for the teenage sensation.