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Tottenham target Atletico Madrid defender ahead of summer swoop


Tottenham are reportedly ready to make a move for Atletico Madrid defender Mario Hermoso this summer as they look to bolster their defence and provide Antonio Conte with a competitive side.

The Italian has repeatedly spoken about the importance of his vision being matched in the transfer market, and left-centre back is thought to be one of the areas in which the club are looking to strengthen.

At present, Ben Davies fills in at left-centre-back, but he is not a centre-back by trade and it is one of the more obvious areas for the club to upgrade on. The Athletic reported that the Lilywhites had compiled a 4 man shortlist of defenders to target, but for various reasons, all four seemed unlikely to want to make the switch to north London.

As a result, Daniel Levy and co. have reportedly turned their attentions to Atletico Madrid defender Mario Hermoso, according to the Daily Mail.

'Hermoso, who was also linked with Spurs last summer, has two years left on his contract and Atletico are thought to be open to selling for the right price', they report.

RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni are among the other centre-backs in Spurs’s sights but they are also expected to be two of the costlier options being looked at.'

A left-footed defender who is comfortable on the left side of defence, Hermoso has made over 100 appearances for Diego Simeone's side, but was an unused substitute for both of their Champions League quarter-final games against Manchester City despite the absence of Jose Maria Gimenez.

What else do Tottenham need?

Assuming that they make their move for Dejan Kulusevski permanent, as widely expected, Tottenham will have made strides in their rebuild under Antonio Conte.

However, they still need a backup goalkeeper and striker, while improvements in the wing-back roles and another addition in central midfield would certainly not go amiss.

Whether they can afford it all is another matter.

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Ben Browning

Ben Browning

Football writer and analyst. Long-time writer of all things Arsenal and avid watcher of European football. Happy to discuss all things football over on Twitter.


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