A few days back, I reported Tottenham Hotspur’s interest in Inter Milan’s 26-year-old Dutch right wing-back Denzel Dumfries, with Antonio Conte seeing the Dutchman as a candidate to solve his current problems at right wing-back, and Inter Milan seeing him as a worthy sacrifice to ease their ongoing and protracted financial plight.
Indeed, with Matt Doherty, Emerson Royal and Djed Spence all failing to impress on a consistent basis, Conte has reportedly set his sights on a new man for a role that is so integral to his system. Aside from Adama Traore (read on our rekindled interest in the Spaniard here), it is reported that Paratici and Conte see Dumfries as a tempting option to take a punt on in January.
That is according to Football Italia, who have stated that Inter have named a price of £25.9 million for Dumfries, one that at first glance does not seem too steep or excessive for a player with several suitors around the continent, including Chelsea (although why they’re after a right wing-back, I’m not so sure).
Denzel Dumfries has impressed in Qatar, playing in every match for the Netherlands and hit new heights with a man-of-the-match performance in his side’s 3-1 victory over the USA earlier today, a win that catapults his side into the quarter-finals to face Argentina.
Ex-Manchester City and Aston Villa defender Micah Richards, speaking to BBC Sport, waxed lyrical over Dumfries’ performance, in which Dumfries made several crucial interventions and scored the important goal that sealed the Dutchmen’s victory:
“I just thought Denzel Dumfries’ whole game was brilliant. It was the timing of his runs. He didn’t mix it up too much but when he did, it was in the right moments. He was breathless down the right-hand side.
His defensive work was good. It was a five-star performance and he capped it off with the goal. A composed finish.”