Alessandro Bastoni is on the lips of all Tottenham fans at present as the club look to sign a new left-sided centre-back this summer. A position on their radar ahead of January, it was decided that Spurs would instead wait until before the 2022/23 campaign to strengthen there.
Ben Davies excelled in the position under Antonio Conte but the Welshman was the only real player for the spot despite Tottenham having a number of other options across the backline. Not wanting to just have the one man for the position, Fabio Paratici will now do his best to bring in someone to help the club hit the next level, with supporters wanting Bastoni.
A player the managing director of football knows well from his time in Italy, Conte spent two years working with the Italian international during his time as Inter Milan boss and he will know him inside out. Excelling for the Nerazzurri and a regular at the back over the past three campaigns following previous loan spells with Atalanta and Parma, a fee around £51million could be needed to clinch the signing of the centre-back.
READ MORE: Tanguy Ndombele hands Daniel Levy big dilemma as Tottenham given Giovani Lo Celso transfer boost
Tottenham do not see any issues with meeting the player's wage expectations or Inter's fee, but the problem comes with convincing Bastoni to depart the San Siro as he is currently very happy with Simone Inzaghi's side. Spurs will need to convince the Italian that the time is right to leave Serie A behind for the Premier League, though Bastoni is understood to be keen on linking up with Conte again at some point.
Inter Milan's financial situation could well play a part in what exactly happens with Bastoni between now and the summer window closing for business. Needing to move players on 12 months ago in order to raise vital funds, Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi were big name departures as they joined Chelsea and PSG respectively in mega-money deals.
Inter, who have been linked with a move to re-sign Lukaku following his Stamford Bridge nightmare, could again need to raise money to help finance their own incomings, thus meaning Bastoni could potentially be sacrificed if Tottenham submit a suitable offer. Bastoni's current contract at the San Siro, unless offered fresh terms this summer, may play a part in their thinking as it is due to expire in the summer of 2024.
As he now only has two years on his contract until he can walk away on a free transfer, this is the window where Inter will be able to get the highest fee for him. A player's valuation does start to decrease once they enter the final 24 months of their contract, with plenty of examples in the past where teams have had to sell players with 18 or 12 months remaining on deals for a reduced price to avoid running the risk of losing them for nothing.
Tottenham did find themselves in a rather precarious position three summers ago with Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen all entering the final 12 months of their respective deals. While Spurs did manage to get Alderweireld to pen a new contract shortly after Jose Mourinho's arrival as boss, Vertonghen left on a free and Eriksen headed to Inter in a cut-price move.
If Inter do want to bring in a big fee for Bastoni then this is the summer to do that. With Ivan Perisic already signed on the dotted line and Fraser Forster set to follow, Spurs fans will have their fingers crossed that the Italian international arrives in the coming weeks.
Bastoni is currently away on international duty with his country until the middle of the month and that means there has been no progress in convincing him that the time is right to depart Milan for N17. All concerned will be hoping that a breakthrough happens sooner rather than later as Conte and Paratici look to put together their 2022/23 Spurs squad in good time for August's big kick-off.
