Noel Whelan believes that Inter Milan defender Stefan de Vrij is exactly the kind of player Tottenham need to add leadership to their backline.
De Vrij has been gone from strength to strength since his move from Lazio to Inter back in 2018 and the experienced defender was one of the key performers in the club’s historic Scudetto winning campaign last season.
When Conte appeared close to a move to Spurs earlier this week, it was rumoured that De Vrij was one of the players that the Italian wanted the North London club to bring in.
While talks between Tottenham and Conte have broken down, reports indicate that the North London club could still look to raid Inter for multiple players this summer owing to the Serie A side’s financial owes.
Spurs were heavily linked with De Vrij’s centre-back partner Milan Skriniar last summer and the Lilywhites have been backed to make another attempt to sign the Slovak this summer but Whelan suggested that De Vrij might be a better fit.
The former Leeds striker told Football Insider regarding Tottenham’s rumoured interest in the Netherlands international: “There’s no doubt it was a question mark last season. It was a really frail part of their game, defending.
“They never got it right, they chopped and changed defenders. They didn’t know what was the best centre-back partnership there.
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“We go back to managers, they bring in their own because they know they can trust them.
“Don’t get me wrong, they’ll give the other lads a chance that are already there and under contract.
“There will always be a player that they want, that they believe is their leader and they can trust from their own experience.
“The calibre is good. You’re not dipping into the market for an unknown. International pedigree, strong personality, won Serie A.
“No one’s going to grumble at that when he walks through the doors at Tottenham.”
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