Spurs can complete Conte's frightening trio with swoop for £33m-rated "absolute beast" - opinion

Tottenham Hotspur are lining up a move for Mario Hermoso this summer, according to reports…

The Daily Mail claim that the north London outfit are tracking the Atletico Madrid centre-back ahead of the transfer window reopening at the end of the season, with RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and Antonio Conte’s former Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni also being monitored.

Spurs are on the lookout, specifically, for a left-sided central defender and the five-time Spain international is amongst the targets.

Having joined in a £25m deal from Espanyol in July 2019, Hermoso now finds himself down the pecking order under Diego Simeone at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Signing Hermoso could hand Conte a frightening backline heading into next season as the 26-year-old colossus could sit perfectly alongside Eric Dier and Cristian Romero.

Regarded as an impressive ball-playing defender, Hermoso has averaged a passing accuracy of at least 84% across the last two LaLiga seasons, as well as at least three long balls per outing too.

He also ranks in the top 1% of his positional peers for passing into the penalty box (0.68 per 90) and top 14% for progressive passes (3.89 per 90), meaning the Atletico star likes to play forward, rather than sideways or backwards, as per FBRef.

The 6-foot centre-back is also adept in terms of defensive output, having averaged 3.5 clearances, 1.7 headers won, 1.2 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game, via WhoScored.

Now valued at €40m (£33m) by CIES Football Observatory, the centre-back wouldn’t come cheap but his passing capabilities on the left foot clearly make him an appealing candidate to fill that final spot in Conte’s current defence.

Conte is currently depending on full-back Ben Davies to partner both Dier