Alessandro Bastoni’s agent has ruled out a move to Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur for the £50 million-rated Inter Milan centre-half, speaking to Fabrizio Romano.
Anyone who has ever tried to purchase themselves an automatic car can probably understand how Spurs are feeling as another left-footed centre-half slips through their grasp.
They’re hard to find at the best of times and, when one does appear, it’s usually a damn sight more expensive than it’s manual counterparts.
Then again, Tottenham probably knew that they were in for a tough time when Fabio Paratici, Antonio Conte and co made a left-sided centre-half their top summer priority, per The Athletic. Players of this ilk don’t exactly grow on trees, after all, and the branches are more bare than ever after Nico Schlotterbeck joined Borussia Dortmund and Sven Botman entered advanced negotiations with AC Milan.
Bastoni, meanwhile, always felt like an ambitious solution.
Not just because of his price-tag – rumoured to be in the region of £50 million – but because this most erudite and urbane of ball-playing defenders has never seemed likely to force a move away from the San Siro, regardless of the mutual admiration that exists between him and former Nerazzuri coach Conte.
According to FC Inter News, Conte is ‘crazy’ about Bastoni. And vice versa.
Tottenham hit a brick wall in Alessandro Bastoni pursuit
“Bastoni will stay at Inter for sure,” says the 23-year-old’s representative, pouring enough water on the speculation to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool.
“He has a contract (until 2024) and he’s happy with Inter – there’s no problem.”
Italian publication La Repubblica claimed earlier this week that Tottenham had entered talks with Inter regarding a deal for Bastoni. A cash-strapped side could still cash in, of course. But Bastoni is one of the players head coach Simone Inzaghi will be desperate to hang onto. It’s not as if Inter are short of sellable assets after all.
The question is, where do Tottenham go from here?
Pau Torres remains an option. What’s more, he may be ready to leave Villarreal after turning down Spurs less than 12 months ago. And even if Torres proves to be unattainable again, at least Conte can rely upon one of the Premier League’s most improved players…
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