Inter Milan centre-back Alessandro Bastoni, who is reportedly on Tottenham’s radar, has credited Antonio Conte for his improvements over the past couple of years.
It was during Conte’s two-year spell at Inter that Bastoni established himself as a mainstay of the Inter backline and developed into one of the most promising young defenders in the Serie A.
According to reports, signing a left-sided centre-back to compete with Ben Davies is Tottenham’s priority this summer, with Bastoni said to be one of the names on Conte’s wishlist for that role (The Athletic).
Some reports have claimed that Inter could be open to cashing in on the 23-year-old this summer in order to fund moves for their transfer targets (TuttoSport).
Calciomercato claimed last week that the North London club are not put off by the Nerrauzri’s €45m (£37.8m) valuation of the centre-back, who has two years left to run on his contract (Transfermarkt).
Bastoni has now spoken about his admiration for the Tottenham head coach, admitting that he owes ’90 per cent’ of his development to the 52-year-old.
The Italy international told Football Italia: “He (Conte) was the one who consecrated me. I owe him the 90% of what I am today.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“He gave me so much technically, but also in terms of mentality. Not every coach plays a 20-year-old guy in a team like Inter. I owe him so much.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I believe Inter will sell Bastoni this summer if the centre-back does not sign a new contract as the Serie A club would not want to lose him for a cut-price fee in 12 months time.
Hopefully, the 23-year-old’s relationship with Conte will give Spurs an advantage over the other suitors in the race for the defender.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
