Transfer News: Tottenham Hotspur battle Barcelona for Inter Milan centre-back Stefan de Vrij
According to FC Inter News (h/t The Express), Tottenham Hotspur will battle it out with Barcelona to sign Inter Milan centre-back Stefan de Vrij in the near future. He has been sensational for club and country and despite turning 30 this month, has looked better than ever in the heart of his team’s defence.
De Vrij is in line to enter the final year of his current deal in the summer transfer window. Moreover, Inter are hesitant to offer him a renewal at this instant which could play into the hands of the interested parties. Tottenham are looking to take advantage of this situation, although they will need to deal with the Catalans.
Apparently, Spurs have made a convincing offer in an attempt to sign the Dutchman before the other suitors. However, they will have to fork out £25million in transfer fees to get his signature next summer. It is claimed that the presence of Antonio Conte could convince the ex-Lazio man to move to N17.
Summer clash?
The recent damning losses to Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers have handed us a reality check on the current situation in our squad. Despite January arrivals, we are not really at a stage where Conte has enough resources to mount a challenge for Champions League qualification.
The 30-year-old would be a useful signing in that regard and would instantly boost our backline with his immense quality. He is showing no signs of slowing down and could prove to be a smart investment for any interested party.
Barca would not sit idly by as they would be vying to get the Serie A ace’s services after this season. While they are suffering from financial issues, their potential lucrative sponsorship deal with Spotify could inject them with some much-needed cash at this stage.
We lost out on Luis Diaz and Adama Traore to Liverpool and the Blaugrana side respectively this January. Fabio Paratici and co cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes in the next transfer window and must be decisive with their interest in de Vrij if they really want him in a Spurs shirt.
Having lost Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld in back-to-back summer windows, there is clearly a place for an experienced centre-back to come in and take charge of our backline.
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The Dutch international played in the middle of a three-at-the-back system for Conte during their time together at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. His past links with our current boss could potentially be a factor to pay attention to in these proceedings.
Eric Dier and Joe Rodon can arguably be upgraded upon while Davinson Sanchez’s recent horror showing against Wolves underlines his tendency to be a liability at times. In such a situation, it would help Conte to have a familiar face in his defensive line. The man knows what he is doing, having led Inter to the Serie A title last season with de Vrij at the heart of his defence.
