Conte could land his next Kante as Paratici plots Spurs bid for "unreal" £60m signing - opinion

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Kalvin Phillips to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

That’s according to a report by The Telegraph, who claim that the Leeds United defensive midfielder is one of a number of players on Antonio Conte’s list of transfer targets in the summer market, with the signing of a new player in the 26-year-old’s position believed to be a priority for the 52-year-old ahead of Spurs’ 2022/23 campaign.

However, further reports claim that the likes of Manchester United, Aston Villa, West Ham United, Liverpool and Manchester City are also interested in a move for the England international this summer, with the Whites’ expected to demand a figure in the region of £60m in order to part with their academy graduate.

Considering just how impressive Phillips has been for Leeds since the Whites’ promotion to the Premier League back in 2020, it is easy to see why Conte would be interested in a deal to bring the deep-lying playmaker to north London this summer.

Indeed, while a hamstring injury kept the £45m-rated talent sidelined for a large portion of 2021/22, the 26-year-old undoubtedly proved his ability over 29 Premier league appearances in the season prior, scoring one goal, providing two assists and creating five big chances, as well as making an average of 1.2 key passes, taking 0.5 shots and completing 0.7 dribbles per game.

The £38k-per-week defensive midfielder also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 1.6 interceptions, 2.6 tackles, 1.7 clearances, completing 41.0 passes and winning 5.3 duels – at a success rate of 52% – per fixture.

These returns saw the player who Scott Saunders dubbed “unreal” average a quite