Tottenham Hotspur have overtaken Manchester United and Manchester City in the race for outgoing Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar.
Heavily linked with a move to one of the Manchester clubs over the summer, Skriniar could soon complete a long-awaited switch to the Premier League.
But, unlike some previous reports suggested, the 25-year-old seems to be closing in on joining Tottenham.
Jose Mourinho is set on finding Jan Vertonghen’s long-term replacement after escorting the Belgian defender through the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium exit door.
Inter’s genuine interest in Tanguy Ndombele has given Spurs an upper hand in the ongoing battle for Skriniar.
The out-of-favor midfielder is unlikely to feature for the London side under Mourinho again and could be shipped out to Italy by the end of the summer.
After signing Alexis Sanchez and Nicolo Barella permanently earlier in the summer, Inter will have to offload some of their first-team players to pump out a ballooning wage bill.
The Nerazzurri will have to clear the decks to accommodate the new arrivals, and the former Sampdoria centre-back is one of the players expected to make way.
Having failed to weather a bust-up with Antonio Conte, the Zilina youth academy graduate is on his way of swapping Lombardy for London.
Indeed, Conte won’t oppose Skriniar’s departure despite handing the Slovakian 30 Serie A starts in 2019/20, according to the Daily Star.
Manchester United have been trying to broker the defender’s move to Old Trafford all summer long.
They were willing to offer Chris Smalling as a makeweight in a deal to take Skriniar away from the Giuseppe Meazza, but the Englishman is now close to rejoining AS Roma.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is scouring Europe for a reliable central defender to partner Harry Maguire at the heart of United’s backline.
But, the Norwegian manager may have to reassess his options, with the Inter Milan star heading to Tottenham in all likelihood.
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