Paratici can seal Conte's dream signing as Spurs plot bid for "stunning" £60m "baller" - 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 Antonio Conte is a big fan of the Leeds United defensive midfielder, with the 26-year-old believed to be on Fabio Paratici’s list of targets ahead of the upcoming transfer market.

However, the report goes on to state that it is questionable whether Daniel Levy would be willing to offer the England international a similar salary to the one Manchester United will likely put forward to the Whites academy graduate.

Considering just how impressive Phillips has been for Leeds in recent years, in addition to the midfielder possessing a skill set that would appear to suit Conte’s brand of football seamlessly, it is easy to see why the 52-year-old would be keen on a deal for the deep-lying playmaker this summer.

While injury has seen the 26-year-old make just 14 Premier League appearances this season, Phillips proved last season that he is undoubtedly one of the best holding midfielders currently playing the game.

Indeed, over his 29 top-flight fixtures last term, the £45m-rated talent was the Whites’ standout performer, making an average of 1.6 interceptions, 2.6 tackles, 1.7 clearances and winning 5.3 duels – at a success rate of 52% – per fixture.

The £38k-per-week Englishman also highly impressed in a creative capacity, bagging one goal, providing two assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as completing an average of 1.2 key passes, 4.7 long balls, 41 passes and 0.7 dribbles per outing.

These returns saw the player who Nigel de Jong dubbed a “baller” and Adam Crafton labelled “stunning” average a rather