Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a blow in their bid to bring Ruslan Malinovskyi to north London this summer.
What's the talk?
That's according to a report by Italian media outlet TuttoAtalanta, who claim that, despite Fabio Paratici being heavily linked with a move for the Atalanta midfielder this summer, West Ham United have now entered the race for the 29-year-old.
The report also goes on to suggest that the Serie A side have raised their original asking price for the Ukraine international from €20m (17m) to around €35m (£30m) plus add-ons, a figure that it is believed Tottenham are not willing to meet but one that, according to the report, David Moyes' side could.
Paratici must act
With a deal for Antonio Conte's long-term attacking midfield target, Nicolo Zaniolo, appearing increasingly unlikely for Spurs, considering just how impressive Malinovskyi was for Atalanta last season, it is not difficult to understand why the Paratici would be interested in a move to add the 29-year-old to Tottenham's squad prior to the closure of the transfer window next week.
Indeed, over his 30 Serie A appearances - only 19 of which came as starts - in 2021/22, the £25.2m-rated midfielder proved just how impressive a signing he would be for Spurs, scoring six goals, providing four assists and creating 13 big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.9 shots, making 1.5 key passes and completing 1.6 dribbles per game.
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These returns saw the £21k-per-week talent who Carlo Garganese dubbed "unreal" and Seb Stafford-Bloor labelled a "glorious player" average a simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.22, ranking him not only as Atalanta's second-best performer in the league but also as the joint 18th-best player in the Italian top flight as a whole last time out.
The 29-year-old has continued this impressive form into the current campaign, having already scored one goal, registered one assist and created one big chance over his two Serie A fixtures, in addition to making an average of 2.0 key passes and taking 2.5 shots per outing.
These metrics have seen the 42-cap international earn a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.45, ranking him as Gian Piero Gasperini's joint best performer in the division and the joint 27th-best player in the league as a whole.
Furthermore, with Malinovskyi being able to operate from defensive, left, central, right and attacking midfield, as well as a support striker and even up top, aside from his breathtaking returns in Italy, the former KRC Genk star's extremely impressive positional versatility would also appear to make him an ideal candidate to join Conte's side this summer.
As such, while £29.5m is undoubtedly a great deal of money to pay for a 29-year-old with no experience of the Premier League, considering just how exciting a talent Malinovskyi quite clearly is, Paratici simply must do everything he can to beat West Ham to the midfielder's signing in the coming days - as the Ukrainian's skillset would appear to be exactly what Conte is looking for in a new forward-thinking option in the middle of the park.