Conte requested ‘international level’ signing for Tottenham – Price saw Paratici look elsewhere

Tottenham Hotspur have been active in the transfer window, completing six signings this summer.

Among them was Clément Lenglet, who arrived at the north London club on a loan deal from Barcelona.

Instead of the Frenchman, Tottenham could have bolstered their defence by signing Matthijs de Ligt. The deal didn’t take shape and the 22-year-old joined Bayern Munich from Juventus earlier this month.

Spurs chief Fabio Paratici was in charge of the Turin club when they took the centre-back from Ajax in 2019. He ‘really tried’ to bring the Netherlands international to the Premier League side before he made a switch to the Bundesliga.

That’s according to Calciomercato, who state Paratici wanted his former player at the club, after Antonio Conte requested Tottenham to sign an ‘international level defender’.

The first name everyone at the club agreed on was that of the Dutchman. In order to fulfil Conte’s demands, Paratici contacted Juve to understand the conditions to carry out the operation for De Ligt.

Tottenham had no intention of paying €70m for De Ligt and that [plus Bayern’s approach] saw them shift their focus elsewhere.