Tottenham spent the summer on the hunt for a centre-back and were linked with Issa Diop, Ben White, Antonio Rudiger, Kim Min-jae, Lewis Dunk, Diego Carlos, Milan Skriniar, Ozan Kabak, Ben Godfrey, Kristoffer Ajer, Robin Koch, Guillermo Maripán and Ruben Dias, but Skriniar and Rudiger were two players we came closest to signing.
Rudiger couldn’t leave Chelsea for a rival, however. FC Inter News and Calciomercato have now revealed why we failed to get Skriniar too. It turns out Inter Milan refused to lower their asking price for the 25-year-old and Daniel Levy wouldn’t match their demands. There’s also a claim that our offer came in too late.
I mean, we could have guessed either reason…
Where does Christian Eriksen fit into this story?
Calciomercato reveal that our deal with Inter that saw Eriksen make the switch to the San Siro affected our bid to sign Milan Skriniar. Levy wouldn’t accept a penny less than €20m (£18.1m) for the 28-year-old and Inter didn’t forget it. Nerazzurri chairman Steven Zhang requested €60m (£54.3m) or €50m (£45.3m) with bonuses for Skriniar and was unwilling to accept any less.
We didn’t offer enough to warrant him accepting our bid, however, and no deal materialised as a result. Rudiger was meant to be our backup option, but we failed to sign him too. The Football League transfer window shuts on Friday evening and we are closing in on Joe Rodon from Swansea City.
Jose Mourinho has Davinson Sanchez, Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier and Japhet Tanganga at his disposal, so Rodon’s arrival will mean we have five defenders on the books.
How’s our relationship with Inter now?
Calciomercato say we still have a good working relationship with Inter, they just won’t offer us any gifts in the transfer market. That feeling is mutual, so no harm done.
Skriniar is a fantastic centre-back and has three years remaining on his deal, so Inter aren’t under any obligation to cash in for cheap. Levy got a taste of his own medicine.
With Rodon close to joining us, it’s unlikely we will return for Skriniar or another defender in January.
In other news, Tottenham tried to sign Moussa Dembele on deadline day