Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Stefan de Vrij to the Premier League in the January transfer window.
What's the talk?
That's according to a report by Football Insider, who claim that Antonio Conte has already opened talks with the Inter Milan centre-back - with whom Spurs have been heavily linked ever since the 53-year-old's arrival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - regarding a potential switch to north London this winter.
The report goes on to state that, despite the 30-year-old being informed by Nerazzurri chiefs that he will be offered a new deal at the San Siro, the Serie A side are yet to put a new contract on the table, something that is said to see the Netherlands international become available for a knockdown price in the January market.
Conte's dream
With recent reports suggesting that Conte is looking to strengthen his defensive options ahead of the second half of the 2022/23 campaign, it is not difficult to see why the Italian would be keen on sealing a reunion with his former centre-back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this winter.
Indeed, the 30-year-old was a crucial part of Conte's title-winning Inter side back in 2020/21, with the £15.5m-rated talent helping the Nerazzurri keep 11 clean sheets over his 32 Serie A appearances, as well as making an average of 1.3 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 2.9 clearances and winning 3.3 duels - at a success rate of 60% - per game.
The £118k-per-week defender also impressed going forwards, scoring one goal and creating one big chance, in addition to completing an average of 57.4 passes - at a success rate of 94% - playing 2.7 long balls and making 0.2 key passes per game - demonstrating his ability to play the ball out from the back.
These returns saw the player who Mauricio once dubbed a "monster" average a simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking the centre-back as Conte's 10th-best performer in the top flight of Italian football that season.
De Vrij also caught the eye for all the right reasons over his six Champions League fixtures that year, helping Inter keep two clean sheets, as well as making an average of 2.8 interceptions, one tackle, 2.5 clearances and completing 65.7 passes - at a success rate of 95% - per game.
These metrics saw the 59-cap international average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.97, ranking him as the Nerazzurri's joint fifth-best performer in Europe's most prestigious club competition in 2020/21.
As such, considering just how much success Conte has enjoyed with the Dutchman in a three-man backline, De Vrij would very much appear to be a dream signing for Fabio Paratici to bring to Tottenham in January - especially if the defender is available for as little as £10m this winter.