Tottenham Hotspur are competing with Inter Milan to sign Belgian defender Koni De Winter, considered as the successor to Vincent Kompany.
There have been contacts between De Winter's club, Genoa, and Spurs, with the Italian side willing to accept just £22m for the international centre-back. Bournemouth are also targeting the 23-year-old as a replacement for Dean Huijsen, who left for Real Madrid last month.
No bids have been lodged for Genoa yet, but talks are ongoing. The problem for Spurs is that Champions League finalists Inter are further ahead in negotiations with Genoa, while Koni De Winter is happy to stay in Italy, where he has spent most of his career so far.
Koni De Winter has said he is inspired by Kompany and wants to reach a similar level. He said he has similar ball skills to Kompany and wants to play in the best competitions, citing the Premier League as one of them.
Meanwhile, Tottenham need to strengthen their defence without spending too much to free up funds to target new manager Thomas Frank's top target, Adam Wharton. However, Crystal Palace's £80m valuation of the England international remains a stumbling block. Tottenham are also working on signing Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest for £60m, but that move has been blocked after a formal complaint from Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis over Spurs' move for the 25-year-old.
