Alasdair Gold has dropped a promising update on reported Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Franck Kessie.

What's the talk?

In a recent Q&A on football.london, the Spurs correspondent claimed that he would be stunned if Fabio Paratici did not make a move for one of Tottenham's targets who are available on free transfers this summer, with one such player being the AC Milan central midfielder.

The journalist went on to claim that the 25-year-old is a talent that both Antonio Conte and Paratici are extremely keen on, although he does suggest that Spurs will face significant competition to get a deal over the line for the Ivory Coast international.

Regarding Tottenham's interest in Kessie, Gold said:

"Fabio Paratici does like a free transfer so I'd be stunned if Spurs don't attempt to bring a player or two without a fee to be able to put more of their budget elsewhere. Franck Kessie will be available and is a player Paratici and Conte like but there will be competition for his services."

Imagine him and Bentancur

Considering just how impressive Kessie has been for Milan in recent seasons, it is not difficult to understand why Conte and Paratici are so keen to land the midfielder this summer.

Indeed, over his 37 Serie A appearances in 2020/21, the £25m-rated titan was in breathtaking form for the Rossoneri, scoring 13 goals, registering four assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 47.9 passes, 1.2 interceptions, 1.4 tackles and winning 5.2 duels - at a success rate of 53% - per game.

These returns saw the player, who Antonio Cassano dubbed a "devastating" talent, earn a quite astonishing seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.18, ranking him as his club's third-best performer in the Italian top-flight last time out.

It has been a similar story over the £69k-per-week Ivorian's 18 league outings in the current campaign, with Kessie having already bagged five goals and created one big chance for his teammates, with these metrics seeing the 25-year-old average a SofaScore match rating of 7.12 - ranking him as Stefano Pioli's fourth-best player in the division.

As such, with Spurs having already secured the £21.5m signing of the industrious Rodrigo Bentancur in the January transfer window, the further addition of the Milan player Vincenzo Montella labelled "sublime" this summer - particularly on a free transfer - would be a remarkable piece of business by Paratici, as the duo would undoubtedly form a much-feared partnership in the heart of Conte's Spurs side.

In other news: "People within Spurs..": Gold drops huge transfer claim, it'd be a disaster for Conte