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Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in securing the services of Chelsea centre-back Antonio Rudiger, according to a report in Sky Sports.
Jose Mourinho's pursuit of a centre-back has been well documented in the press, with Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar being linked with a move to Spurs.
However, it was reported by reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano that the two clubs were well apart in their valuation for the player. The Italian side reportedly asked for €60 million for the Slovakian stopper, but Tottenham were only prepared to part with €30 - €35 million.
It seems that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has since moved on to what he considers are more 'obtainable' alternatives as his interest has now shifted to Rudiger.
The 27-year-old German centre-back joined Chelsea from AS Roma in 2017 and has racked up 115 league appearances for the Blues.
Tottenham fortify considerably in the transfer market
Despite not being close to Chelsea with the number of additions made during the ongoing transfer window, Tottenham have strengthened considerably in the summer.
Incomings of Pierre-Emile Hojberg, Sergio Reguilon, Joe Hart and Gareth Bale have added quality and depth to Jose Mourinho's squad.
However, all was not well with the Tottenham manager as he lambasted the FA for the highly controversial VAR penalty decision that saw Newcastle United earn a late draw against his team during the weekend.
“I don’t think ... I think about my team’s performance, very good; a really good team performance,” Morurinho said when asked to give his thoughts about the decision by interviewer Laura Woods. “First half, amazing. It should be 3-0, 4-0 easy, but (Karl) Darlow was fantastic. We hit the post, and they managed to survive."
“I’m not going to comment on it (the handball). I don’t want to speak about it. If I want to give some money away, I will give it to charities. I don’t want to give it to the FA, so I prefer not to comment. At half-time (Steve) Bruce was super happy with the result at 1-0. He knows football. He knew that at half-time, it could have been three or four-nil, and they got their point.”
Tottenham have a busy week ahead as they take on Chelsea in the EFL Cup, Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League and then travel to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United on Sunday.
