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Having finally gifted Antonio Conte some new players during the January transfer window, Fabio Paratici can rest a bit easier.

After all, the Italian manager had been asking for some changes at Spurs since his arrival, making it clear, for example, that he didn’t want to work with Tanguy Ndombélé.

The Frenchman was then sent back to Lyon on loan for the rest of the season, and both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur were brought in from Juventus.

However, there is another player Paratici was reportedly looking at to bolster the midfielder at Tottenham in the past, and that’s RC Lens’ Cheick Doucouré.

The 22-year-old defensive midfielder has enjoyed a good few seasons at the Ligue 1 side over the past few years, and has attracted some attention around Europe with his performances.

Jeunes Footeux in France state clubs such as Sevilla and Borussia Mönchengladbach are ‘still following’ the Mali international, but so are a big team in the Premier League.

You’ll have guessed that we’re talking about Tottenham, who are said to have ‘already ticked the name’ of the player during the last summer transfer window, and ‘an offer of between €15-20m was long in the pipeline’ before decisions were made to go after another player.

That doesn’t mean they’ve given up, though, because ‘Tottenham have been seduced by the performances of Doucouré with RC Lens since the start of the season, and therefore are once again keeping a very attentive eye’ on the Mali international for the next transfer window.