Sky Sports’ Lyall Thomas has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur explored a deal for Denzel Dumfries during Mauricio Pochettino’s time at the club but decided against signing the Dutchman.
Signing an elite right wing-back is reportedly Antonio Conte’s number-one priority during the January transfer window (The Athletic).
Although multiple publications (AS and The Daily Star) have indicated over recent days that Pedro Porro is Tottenham’s top target and that the club are in negotiations with Sporting Lisbon for the Spaniard, the speculation linking Dumfries with a move to Spurs has not gone away.
Sportitalia claimed a couple of days ago that Inter want a whopping €60m (£53.1m) for the 26-year-old on the back of his performances at the World Cup.
Italian journalist Marco Barzaghi subsequently claimed on his YouTube channel (as relayed by FC Inter 1908) a couple of days ago that Antonio Conte’s men could offer Emerson Royal to Inter in a potential part-exchange deal for Dumfries.
Thomas has now revealed that Spurs passed up on the chance to sign the Netherlands international when he was still at PSV Eindhoven.
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The journalist said on the Last Word on Spurs YouTube channel: “We mention Dumfries, this is a player Spurs are certainly aware of. Dumfries is an interesting one because he’s played at Inter. He’s one the Premier League have been aware of for a while.
“He was at PSV before and did well there. I think Tottenham were looking at him when he was at PSV, I remember that actually. In the Pochettino days, they had a look at that, but they didn’t think he was quite ready.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It is always a risk to sign players purely based on their performances in the Eredivisie and it is not surprising that Dumfries’ stock is now a lot higher after he proved himself in Serie A.
I personally still have my doubts over whether the Dutchman would be much of an upgrade on Doherty, and would prefer Porro over the Inter star, even though the latter is more experienced and proven at the highest level.
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