Conte's new Tottenham - a Battle for Bastoni!

AP images - Tottenham score in the last minute to advance into the Champions League Final in 2019-20

With Champions League football secured after a season providing a variety of emotions, Tottenham Hotspur are set to have a very busy summer transfer window. Nuno Espirito Santo found time in North London challenging throughout the duration of his very limited stay at Tottenham. In 10 Premier League appearances Nuno only provided Spurs with 5 wins and 5 defeats; however, after his sacking and the appointment of Antonio Conte the club gained 17 wins and 6 defeats in 28 appearances, turning around their season entirely.

The right back position in the Tottenham squad over the past few years has been slowly been depleting with the departure of Kyle Walker in 2017 followed by Kieran Trippier in 2019, saw a lack of experience or first team quality in the side with the reliance on Kyle Walker-Peters and Japhet Tanganga. Signings such as Matt Doherty didn’t work out at first, however, mid-season in the 2021-22 campaign his statistics showed he had a lot to prove in the side, with 2 goals and 4 assists in 10 appearances. A summer move for right wing-back

Djed Spence who gained promotion through the playoffs with Nottingham Forrest in his loan spell from Middlesbrough, is in the interests Antonio Conte. According to Fabrizio Romano, “Tottenham are interested in Djed Spence since long time but they’ve not reached full agreement to sign him yet despite rumours”, however a transfer fee of around £20 million has been agreed by Tottenham and Middlesbrough as reported by Will Unwin from the Guardian.

The search for a new centre-back is seen to be a priority this transfer window, with Ben Davies and Eric Dier currently occupying these spots in the first team, however, more potential is needed in the hunt to catch up with the front-runners, Liverpool and Manchester City. Paul Gilmour at Sky Sports stated that “following the news that Tottenham have put in £150m of equity funds into the club, the club are clearly backing Antonio Conte in the transfer market this summer” indicating that “Conte wants more squad depth”. Following the departure of the ‘Belgium wall’ in 2021 with both Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld departing the club in 2021, generating only £11.7m, Tottenham’s defence lacked reliability conceding 16 goals in the first 10 games at the start of the 2021-22 season under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Alessandro Bastoni is admired by Conte as the Italian manager wants to reunite with the left centre-back. However, a recent meeting between Bastoni’s agent, Tullio Tinti, and Inter Milan, put a spanner in the works, as Tinti states that “Bastoni will stay at Inter for sure. He has a contract and he’s happy with Inter – there is no problem”. Spurs were willing to pay up to £55-60m for the 23 year-old, but are reportedly still interested in the defender and haven’t given up hope. Inter Milan would rather sell Milan Skriniar and Stefan De Vrij, who have both won trophies under Conte and are both on Tottenham’s radar. Pau Torres of Villareal in La Liga, is another option Tottenham are looking at, however, he would prefer a move to Manchester United. Villareal on the other hand want him to go to Tottenham to encourage a swap deal for Giovani Lo Celso. Bremer, a Brazilian defender, who won defender of the year in the Serie A last season, is an option Tottenham are seriously considering. Inter Milan are very keen on signing him, which was thought would trigger a move for Bastoni to Tottenham.