According to a report from Italian news outlet Il Mattino, Spurs look to rival Man United and Liverpool for Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly – but any potential suitors will have to meet chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis’ eye-watering €100 million (£89 million) asking price.
Koulibaly, starting 14 Serie games for the club this campaign, has attracted interest from across Europe – with Spurs allegedly joining the hunt for his signature.
As fan favourite Jan Vertonghen looks unlikely to put pen to paper on a contract extension, Tottenham scour the market for a centre-back who can fill his boots, and Koulibaly could debatably do just that.
According to WhoScored, the 6ft 4 colossus averages more tackles per 90 than all of Spurs’ current centre-backs – as well as making more interceptions than Toby Alderweireld.
Koulibaly also averages a superior 89.3% pass success rate over our defensive crop, winning 2.3 aerial duels per game, potentially supporting the theory he would be a much-welcomed addition in north London.
However, given chairman Daniel Levy’s stance on audacious transfer swoops this summer due to recent events, meeting Napoli’s lofty £89m asking price seems unlikely at best.
Regardless, Il Mattino report that we are interested in the player despite the fact he would also command wages of up to £115,000-per-week.
This would make him the fourth-best paid player in the squad, at least according to spotrac, with only star men Harry Kane, Tanguy Ndombele and Heung-Min Son earning a higher amount.
Given the expensive nature of such a coup, Spurs managing to land Koulibaly seems like wishful thinking – but if we did secure his signature, it would undoubtedly add more star quality to the side.