Antonio Conte is interested in signing Inter Milan maestro Hakan Calhanoglu at Tottenham Hotspur this summer, who would be the 21st Turkish star to grace the Premier League yet.
The Spurs boss has set his sights on the San Siro as he seeks to strengthen the creativity at his disposal in north London. Even though Tottenham will return to the Champions League next term after clinching a fourth-place finish in the top-flight with the fourth-best offence.
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Only champions Manchester City with 79 and runners-up Liverpool with 65 also outscored Tottenham under Conte, having hit home 60 goals in 28 games. Those efforts also resulted in Spurs sealing the third-most points after November 2 with 56, behind City and the Reds.
Conte is interested in Calhanoglu at Tottenham amid possible Inter Milan exit
Now, though, CalcioMercatoWeb report Conte is interested in signing Calhanoglu and may offer Inter Milan two Tottenham players in part-exchange. The Italian is considering giving up either Giovani Lo Celso or Davinson Sanchez to clinch the playmaker’s move to England.
Lo Celso could switch to Serie A as a direct replacement for Calhanoglu in Simone Inzaghi’s midfield ranks. The Argentine spent the latter half of last season away from north London on loan at Villarreal, having only featured for 215 minutes after Tottenham appointed Conte.
Sanchez could also help fill a gap in the San Siro ranks with the Nerazzurri possibly losing either Milan Skriniar or Stefan de Vrij this summer. But Inter Milan would prefer to sell just for cash, and have slapped a €30m (£26m) valuation on Calhanoglu amid Tottenham’s interest.
Inter Milan would strive to agree a cash-only deal as chairman Giuseppe Marotta strives to balance their books. Football Italia note the Nerazzurri must raise at least €60m (£51.5m) in capital gains and lower their wage bill by 10-15% before the summer market slams shut.
Calhanoglu could leave the San Siro to help toward Marotta’s search for funds, despite the 28-year-old’s productive debut campaign. After joining as a free agent upon his contract at AC Milan expiring last June, the midfielder provided eight goals and 13 assists in 46 games.
Conte is now interested in taking Calhanoglu to Tottenham as he admires the Inter Milan star’s box-to-box characteristics. Such a move would also see the 72-cap international be the 21st Turkish star to grace the Premier League, so who are the top-five he can follow?
Izzet has most Prem apps by Turkish stars amid Tottenham’s Calhanoglu interest
Muzzy Izzet boasts the most Premier League appearances by a Turkish player to date to set an example for Calhanoglu to follow, amid Conte’s interest at Tottenham in the Inter Milan maestro. He, too, was an attacking midfielder, but spent his entire career at English outfits.
The nine-cap international began his senior career at Chelsea in 1993, after graduating out of their academy. But London-born Izzet never featured for the Blues, instead he amassed 222 top-flight appearances for Leicester City and then 26 with Birmingham City up to 2006.
Kerimoglu has most Prem apps at one club amid Tottenham’s Calhanoglu interest
Calhanoglu could also take inspiration from Tugay Kerimoglu, amid Conte’s interest in Inter Milan’s maestro moving to Tottenham this summer. The defensive midfielder amassed the second-most Premier League appearances by Turkish players with 233 from 2001 to 2009.
But unlike Izzet, Kerimoglu amassed all of his English top-flight outings at one club, having spent eight years at Blackburn Rovers. The Ewood Park natives signed the 94-cap anchor from Rangers, and would call on the Galatasaray product’s services until Kerimoglu retired.
Sanli assisted most Prem goals by Turkish players between three-club career
Conte would hope to see Calhanoglu overtake Tuncay Sanli as the Turkish player with the most assists in the Premier League, if Tottenham formalise his interest in signing the Inter Milan maestro. The 79-cap international offered 12 across 127 games, along with 20 goals.
Middlesbrough offered Sanli his first chance to play in the English top-flight in 2007 after leaving Fenerbahce for free. His career would go on to include spells at Stoke City in 2009 to 2011 and Bolton from 2011 to 2012, with 67, 44 and 16 games with them respectively.
Leicester star Soyuncu sits fourth for Prem’s all-time top-five Turkish players
Leicester centre-back Caglar Soyuncu sits fourth in the list of the Premier League’s all-time top-five Turkish players so far. The 26-year-old has amassed 90 top-flight appearances for the Foxes since moving to the King Power Stadium from Freiburg in 2018 for up to £19m.
But the 48-cap international could add another Premier League club to his CV this summer. The Daily Mail report Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester have put Soyuncu up for sale, after citing Tottenham as being interested in the Izmir native, who is set to be out of contract in 2023.
Ozalan an easy marker for Calhanoglu to enter top-five amid Tottenham interest
Alpay Ozalan gives Calhanoglu an easy marker for the Inter Milan star to enter the top-five Turkish players to grace the Premier League to date, amid Tottenham and Conte’s interest. The centre-half only amassed 58 top-flight games during his time in England at Aston Villa.
The Villans provided Ozalan with his only opportunity to play in England between 2000 and 2004. Villa bought the 90-cap international from Siirtspor, after spending his career only in Turkey to that point, before enjoying brief runs in South Korea and Japan before Germany.
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