Tottenham have rekindled their interest in Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic who recently extended his contract with the Italians until 2023.
According to the print edition of the Sunday Mirror (h/t Fichajes), Premier League giants, Tottenham Hotspur have rekindled their interest in Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic.
The 23-year-old is one of the best young defenders in Serie A. Spurs have increased their focus on the Italian league following the appointment of Fabio Paratici as the club’s managing director for football. The Italian will be familiar with the defender, having scouted him during his time at Juventus.
Milenkovic was heavily linked with Spurs last summer. His contract at Fiorentina was set to expire in 2022, and there was an opportunity to sign him for cheap. However, it was not to be, and the north Londoners went on to add Cristian Romero to their ranks.
The Serbian has since signed fresh terms with Fiorentina, committing his future to the club until 2023. This, to an extent, plays spoilsport in any hope Tottenham had to secure the player on a cheap. They will instead have to fork out €40 million to land their man.
Nuno Espirito Santo has used different permutations of centre-back pairings over the last few games. Davinson Sanchez, Cristian Romero, Joe Rodon, Japhet Tanganga and Eric Dier have all received opportunities but failed to make an impact. Tottenham have conceded 13 goals in their last five games and looked sixes and sevens at the back against Arsenal in the North London derby on Sunday.
Signing Milenkovic will get them a promising yet experienced defender. Surprisingly, Tottenham have also been linked to Juventus star Matthijs de Ligt. The Dutchman has also attracted Chelsea’s attention and will not come cheap. Milenkovic represents a financially better if not cheaper alternative and could prove easier to attain.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing to have, and Spurs may have missed a trick by not making a harder push to sign Milenkovic this summer. While they could still end up landing him, they have surrendered any leeway they had in negotiations.
Nuno’s issues at Spurs run much deeper than one player to come in and solve. But it is time Tottenham moved on from Dier and Sanchez. Whether Milenkovic is the man to come in remains to be seen.
