Transfer News: Tottenham Hotspur set to rival Manchester United for Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni
According to the Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport [Print Edition] via SempreInter (h/t Manchester Evening News), Tottenham Hotspur are set to rival Manchester United for the signature of Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni in this summer transfer window. He has enjoyed yet another solid season, having made his breakthrough under Antonio Conte.
Man United are searching the market for centre-back additions as they look to reinvigorate their struggling defence for the new project. Erik ten Hag is looking to bolster his side’s defence and has identified Bastoni as a potential target. Furthermore, ten Hag is also a “huge admirer” and wants the defender in his squad.
That would be a blow for Tottenham, who are in line to target Bastoni to reunite him with Conte. Inter are set to make a pretty high demand of £50million for the central defender’s services, but it remains to be seen what lies in store regarding his future.
Bastoni would offer long term benefits
Football.London recently revealed that Fabio Paratici plans to make their defence the priority and will focus on strengthening it this summer. He reached that conclusion after discussing the matter with Conte in the meeting held in Italy a few days ago.
Bastoni would perfectly suit those needs as he would bolster the backline while offering long term solidity to our defence. Moreover, the Italian international also has previous experience working under Conte, which would be greatly useful as he could slot seamlessly into the three at the back system.
Adding Bastoni to our ranks would further bring down the average age in our squad, which is very useful if we are looking to build a long term project under Conte. But that does not mean we are sacrificing on quality or experience either, as the Serie A superstar has garnered both these aspects, looking at his displays in recent years.
The Red Devils will cause a considerable threat to our pursuit if they express their interest in signing Bastoni this summer. Then again, their presence also gives us an added incentive to pip them to the centre-half as we can steal one of their options while bolstering our defence in the process.
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That being said, signing the 23-year-old could massively dent our transfer budget despite the £150million investment made by the owners. After all, the Nerazzurri’s demands are a bit pricey, even if it is understandable as Bastoni is one of the best young defenders after all.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed last week that we would permanently sign Cristian Romero for £40million this summer. As such, perhaps it would be best if Paratici could negotiate and reduce Inter Milan’s asking price so that we will have enough money to sign other targets as well.
