Gazzetta Dello Sport have revealed that Inter Milan are in talks with Tottenham target Alessandro Bastoni over a new contract but the Serie A club are not finding it easy to reach an agreement with the central defender.
Bastoni will have just one year left on his contract in June (Transfermarkt) and Alasdair Gold revealed on Tuesday (Q&A on Football.London) that the Italian will be near the top of Spurs’ wishlist if he does not sign a new deal.
Gazzetta have now explained that Inter have already held exploratory talks with the centre-back’s entourage, with the club said to be keen to tie down the defender in order to avoid a repeat of the Milan Skriniar fiasco.
The report states that tying down Bastoni is ‘an absolute priority’ for the Nerazzurri since he was already ‘in the sights of’ Spurs and Manchester United last summer.
Gazzetta state that the Italy international currently earns €3m (£2.6m) per season and is demanding a salary of around €5m-€5.5m (£4.4m-£4.8m) to sign on the dotted line but Inter are only willing to offer him €4m (£3.5m) plus bonuses at the moment owing to their financial constraints.
However, the report adds that Simone Inzaghi’s men are aware that they cannot run the risk of tempting the clubs who ‘dream of signing’ Bastoni and hence need to close the case quickly.
Spurs Web Opinion
Having failed to tie down Skriniar, one would expect Inter to push the envelope to ensure that Bastoni stays.
Being a boyhood Nerazzurri fan, the 23-year-old might also be willing to work out a compromise, which is why I am not too optimistic about Tottenham’s chances of snapping up the Italian in the summer.