Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Stefan de Vrij to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by Italian media outlet FcInterNews.it, who claim that all three of Spurs, Newcastle United and Barcelona have contacted Mino Raiola - the agent of the Inter Milan defender - regarding the possibility of a move for the centre-back.

It is claimed that, while the Serie A side are hoping to extend the 29-year-old's current deal until the summer of 2025, the club's current financial difficulties are proving to be a stumbling block in bumping the Netherlands international's wages up to the proposed €4.5m-per-year (£3.8m-per-year).

The report then goes on to state any potential move by Antonio Conte's side would not come in the January transfer window, but rather in the summer, when, with just one year remaining on his current deal, Inter may well decide to cash in on De Vrij.

Better than De Ligt

Considering just how important a part of Conte's Scudetto-winning Inter side De Vrij was last season, it is easy to understand why the Italian manager is so eager to secure a deal that would see the centre-back follow his own path to North London.

Indeed, over his 32 Serie A appearances last term, the £40.5m-rated defender helped his side keep 11 clean sheets, scored one goal and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.3 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 57.4 passes and winning 60% of his duels per game.

These returns saw the player who Kees Kwakman dubbed "one of the best defenders in the world" earn an extremely impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.03 - ranking him as Conte's 10th-best player in the top flight of Italian football last time out.

Furthermore, Kwakman also stated his belief that De Vrij is "more stable" in the heart of a defence than another of Tottenham's reported transfer targets, Matthijs de Ligt - not to mention one who, considering Inter's reported willingness to cash in on the 29-year-old, would more than likely a much cheaper option for Fabio Paratici to pursue.

As such, it would appear as if the £116k-per-week defender would be a better fit all round for Tottenham in comparison to the Juventus youngster, although, whether or not Conte is willing to wait until next summer in order to bring in a fresh face in the position is another matter altogether.

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