Tottenham are "first in line" for a major summer signing as they look to beat Massimiliano Allegri's Juventus side to a £21 million defender.
Spurs eye new centre-back after Radu Dragusin
Lilywhites boss Ange Postecoglou wants to bring in more defensive cover in the summer window, regardless of their £25m deal for Radu Dragusin in January.
Tottenham talking about signing £30m star for Ange – Sky Sports journalist
Spurs chiefs are in discussions over moving for him.
ByEmilio GalantiniMar 27, 2024
The Romania international was brought in as cover for Micky van de Ven, and made his full Spurs debut away in a 3-0 defeat to Fulham where he endured a very difficult afternoon.
Dragusin has been working tirelessly in Tottenham training, according to his agent Florin Manea this week, and his potential is vast. However, despite the 22-year-old's presence, Postecoglou admitted to the press earlier this month that supporters could see another defender come in this summer.
“If you’re saying, ‘Is it an area we can strengthen?’, yes it’s an area we will probably look at”, said Postecoglou on signing another centre-back.
“With all these things, it’s about trying to strengthen the group as much as anything else. If you think about when I first arrived, we had maybe six or seven centre-backs at the club. So it’s not just numbers. It’s more about the ability of those players to play the football we want and to fit in to what we’re trying to build here.
“I think it is an area of the park we will look to strengthen, but I think we’ll look to strengthen all areas of the park come the end of the season. That is planning that’s already underway, and other people are in charge of it at the moment.”
Given the arrival of Dragusin, we believe it would make little sense to go for a marquee option like Everton starlet Jarrad Branthwaite, who Spurs have been passively linked with in the last few months.
Instead, more astute options are out there for the taking, like soon-to-be free agents Tosin Adarabioyo (Fulham) and Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth). Johan Lange could also look abroad for a solution, with Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori thought to be attracting their interest.
Tottenham "first in line" for Calafiori signing this summer
The Italian has been a revelation for Bologna this campaign, amassing a 90.1% passing accuracy as a composed and assured presence in their back line over 24 Serie A appearances (WhoScored).
Empoli 0-1 Bologna
7.76
Bologna 1-0 Lazio
7.65
Bologna 4-0 Lecce
7.49
Bologna 1-1 Genoa
7.34
Bologna 1-0 Atalanta
7.26
According to Tutto Juve this week, Tottenham are "first in line" to sign Calafiori this summer and actually stand out as favourites over Italian heavyweights Juventus.
This comes after a claim that the defender could cost just £21 million to prise away from Italy, with his performances being heralded. Football analyst Ben Mattinson, writing on X, branded Calafiori a "monster" for his aerial ability.
