Chelsea and Tottenham are both in the market for defensive signings this summer with Inter Milan centre-back Alessandro Bastoni catching the eye of the London clubs. Antonio Conte previously managed him at the San Siro but Romelu Lukaku has already urged the Blues to make their move.
Thomas Tuchel is set for a busy summer at Stamford Bridge. Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are set to leave on free transfers while the futures of Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta remain up in the air as well.
For Tottenham, Conte is ready to stamp his mark on the squad in his first summer transfer window in north London. ENIC have invested an extra £150 million ahead of the 2022-23 campaign and a good chunk of that is expected to go on recruitment, with football.london understanding that Bastoni is high on the current wishlist.
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Chelsea's two defensive priorities as things stand are reportedly Sevilla's Jules Kounde and RB Leipzig's Josko Gvardiol, but the Blues have been rumoured to hold an interest in Bastoni as well. That may not be a big surprise given Lukaku's presence in the Chelsea squad.
After arriving at Stamford Bridge for a club-record £97 million in the summer of 2021, Lukaku wasted no time in making his opinions on future deals known. According to a report from Sport Mediaset last September, the Belgian told his new club to make a move for his former teammate Bastoni as well as Milan Skriniar.
Bastoni has become one of Serie A's most impressive defensive talents in recent seasons with the 23-year-old making 44 appearances in all competitions last season. He was also named in the Serie A team of the season after winning the title in 2020-21.