Report: Tottenham Hotspur were very close to signing Italian International

Tottenham came very close to signing Nicolo Zaniolo until an 11th-hour change in plans

According to Italian outlet Corriere Dello Sport (h/t Express), Tottenham Hotspur were very close to signing AS Roma midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo but were put off by his £42m valuation.

Antonio Conte was unveiled as Spurs manager in the middle of last season and helped guide his team to a Champions League finish. It was pretty impressive considering the position the club was in before he arrived.

Daniel Levy, along with Fabio Paratici, have been really supportive in the transfer market in a bid to support their manager to compete for major titles with seven new faces in Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic, Destiny Ugodie, Djed Spence, Fraser Forster along with Clement Lenglet on loan from FC Barcelona.

Now if things hadn’t changed at the last minute, Italian international Nicolo Zaniolo would have been another name added to the list.

Nicolo Zaniolo has become a mainstay of Jose Mourinho’s Roma side and the Portuguese was keen to retain his services for the season with the Italian having 42 appearances scoring eight goals and notching nine assists and was pivotal in his side’s victory in the inaugural UEFA Conference League.

Thus, there was a lot of interest in the player with Spurs showing the most concrete interest. Roma director Tiago Pinto was very close to concluding a deal for the player with Spurs, only for the owners to intervene and slap a heavy valuation on the player.

Clearly, the Italian side believes that the attacking midfielder has a lot of potential and value and there is no urgency to sell him considering his contract runs till 2024.

With less than ten days remaining until the transfer window closes, it is unclear whether Spurs would be willing to spend big on Zaniolo after going big in the market already.

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• Transfer News: Serie A side plot ‘last-minute’ move for unwanted Spurs defender

It would definitely be an exciting addition for us and would have embedded straight away into the role of playing behind the striker thus releasing Harry Kane from his playmaking duties and would have allowed the Englishman to spend more time in front of the goal.