Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has reportedly identified Inter Milan centre-back Alessandro Bastoni as his leading defensive target for the summer transfer window.
The 23-year-old worked under Conte's wing during the Nerazzurri's title-winning campaign and has remained an integral cog in the Milan side's outfit since his compatriot's departure for North London.
Bastoni is allegedly keen to remain at Inter rather than test himself in the Premier League with Tottenham, but Conte will do everything in his power to convince the imposing defender to make the switch to the English capital.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at Bastoni's career so far and what Spurs fans could expect to see from the 6ft 3in centre-back should he end up in white.
EARLY BEGINNINGS
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Born in Casalmaggiore - a commune centred a two-hour drive away from the Milan city centre in Lombardy - Bastoni would learn his trade under the tutelage of his father at Cannatese before he was discovered by Atalanta BC.
Bastoni was a baby-faced seven-year-old when he joined the La Dea academy in 2006, and he quickly established a reputation as a goalscoring defender at youth level with a total of 12 goals in 56 games across Under-17 and Primavera level.
The centre-back was only 17 years old when he made his senior debut for Atalanta - playing the full 90 minutes in a 3-0 Coppa Italia success over Pescara in November 2016 before making three Serie A appearances later that season, one of which came in a 7-1 loss to Inter.
The Nerazzurri ultimately paid big money to sign the teenage Bastoni for £28m in the summer of 2017 before sending him back out on loan to Atalanta to continue his development, but he would make just four more appearances for La Dea in Serie A as a substitute.
Dissatisfied with Bastoni's game time, Inter recalled the defender before sanctioning a temporary switch to Parma for 2018-19, where he would make the starting lineup on 18 occasions in Serie A and score his first goal to rescue a point in a 3-3 draw with Sampdoria towards the end of the campaign.
RECENT FORM
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Conte had no qualms about bringing Bastoni straight into the first-team fold following his return from Parma, as he made his Nerazzurri debut from the first whistle in a 3-1 win over Sampdoria in September 2019 and went on to amass 33 appearances during his breakthrough year.
Bastoni would also play the full 90 minutes of the 2019-20 Europa League final as Conte's side fell to a 3-2 loss to Sevilla, and the following season would see the Italian collect a Serie A winners' medal with the Milan side - providing three assists along the way.
By this point, Bastoni was beginning to thrive in Conte's three-man defence, where he would largely feature on the left-hand side but could also be used at the heart of the trio if needed.
A physically fearsome defender who reads the game well and is not the slowest man in the world, Bastoni will often time his challenges to perfection and is calmness personified under pressure before pinging a ball up the field - his combinations with new Lilywhites man Ivan Perisic on the left-hand side earned plenty of plaudits.
Bastoni made 47 appearances in all competitions for Inter Milan last season and continued to impress with his aggressive, no-nonsense style of play - although one has to wonder how the centre-back will fare with such a nature in the Premier League - and he has been prone to theatrics on occasion.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
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An ever-present in all of Italy's youth teams, Bastoni has represented the Azzurri from Under-14 level right up to the senior team, and plenty more opportunities will come the 23-year-old's way now.
Roberto Mancini would hand Bastoni his Italy debut during a 4-0 friendly win over Estonia in November 2020, and the Inter man won all five and kept a clean sheet in all five of his maiden outings for the Azzurri before Euro 2020.
With the old guard of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini proving to be ever-presents last year, Bastoni's only appearance at the Euros came in the 1-0 win over Wales in the group stage - he was an unused substitute in the champions' other six games.
Bastoni has earned a total of 12 caps for the European champions since making the step-up to senior level, the most recent of which came in the 1-1 Nations League draw with Germany at the weekend.
With Chiellini's time in the Azzurri setup now over, Bastoni certainly has big shoes to fill moving forward, but Conte will firmly believe that he is capable of steering the highly-rated Italian in the right direction.
Ben Knapton
