The Daily Express’ Ryan Taylor has claimed that Antonio Conte still wants to sign a creative midfielder before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month.
Spurs have been one of the busiest clubs in the Premier League this summer in terms of incomings, with Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Clement Lenglet and Djed Spence arriving through the door.
It served as a major source of encouragement for Antonio Conte’s men that they managed to blow Southampton away on Saturday despite none of the new signings starting the game.
Over the last few weeks, Tottenham have been heavily linked with a move for Nicolo Zaniolo, with Cacliomecato.it claiming that the north London club are contemplating whether or not to meet Roma’s €50m (£42.1m) asking price for the winger.
Meanwhile, Spurs have also reportedly completed a deal to sign Destiny Udogie but the left-back is expected to be loaned back to Udinese (Football.London).
Taylor believes Tottenham are also likely to sign a playmaker this summer but suggested that James Maddison might be out of their reach.
The journalist told GiveMeSport: “I think they are definitely looking at a creative playmaker, someone who can play as a number 10.
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“I’ve said this a lot this summer, but they would like a player that could allow Conte the freedom to change from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2 with an attacking midfielder.
“Eriksen was obviously one of those, Lingard as well. But with Maddison, I feel like it’s pretty clear from the Leicester point of view it would take huge money, sort of a £60 million bid and even then, Leicester would probably look into a sale, but it’s still a risk for them to lose one of their most productive players.”
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It is unclear if Conte views Zaniolo as that creative playmaker that the squad is missing or if he views the Italian as competition for Kulusevski on the right. Either way, paying £40m-plus for the Roma star would certainly rule out a big money move for Maddison this summer.
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