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Tottenham Hotspur, and by extension transfer chief Fabio Paratici, have opened talks to sign a ‘scary’ player for manager Antonio Conte, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Spurs eye new defender…

As reliably reported, a central defender is high on Conte’s list of priorities this summer window with the two top targets appearing to be RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and Inter Milan sensation Alessandro Bastoni (The Athletic).

The latter man in particular is heavily linked with a move to north London and the Premier League with much being made over whether he could be Tottenham’s next summer signing.

If Spurs can’t get their man, Paratici and co may have to turn to other options, with Sport now claiming there has been an interesting development involving Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly.

The Latest: Paratici opens talks?

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According to their information, Spurs and by extension their sporting director have ‘turned to’ the entourage of Serie A’s colossal centre-back to ‘start talks’.

Chelsea and Juventus have also made contact with Koulibaly’s representatives, but according to this report, the Senegal star favours a move to Barcelona.

The Verdict: Pull out?

The £183,000-per-week star, labelled ‘scary’ by Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti, certainly holds no shortage of quality.

As per WhoScored, Koulibaly averaged more clearances per 90 than any of his teammates in the Italian top flight over 2021/2022 whilst finishing the season as Napoli’s fourth-best performer in terms of average match rating.

Once valued at a whopping £130 million release clause, if his club wish to make any money, they may have to sell for considerably less this summer as Koulibaly enters the final year of his deal.

Taking all of this into account, a deal for the 30-year-old may actually be worth pursuing given Conte’s love for experienced and proven players.

In other news: Tottenham will now attempt eight-figure agreement to sign ‘incredible’ speedster…find out more here.

Crystal Palace are keeping tabs on Derby County forward Malcolm Ebiowei, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Johnstone move

Patrick Vieira is looking to make a head start prior to the summer transfer window officially opening and appears to be closing in on a first piece of business.

The Eagles have reportedly held talks with West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, with the 29-year-old set to become a free agent from June.

Johnstone is thought to be excited over a return to the Premier League with Palace, but the club seem to already be eyeing up their next target.

The Latest: Ebiowei links

Romano took to Twitter on Thursday evening to post an update regarding Ebiowei. The transfer expert stated that both Palace and Manchester United are tracking the ‘talented striker’.

AS Monaco and SBV Vitesse are also interested in the 18-year-old, with Romano adding that Steve McClaren’s return to Old Trafford from Derby could play a factor in Ebiowei’s next move.

The Verdict: Plange 2.0?

Palace struck a deal with Derby back in January for another young forward, Luke Plange. The club sent the 19-year-old back to Derby on loan until the end of the season, where he continued to play regularly under Wayne Rooney.

Ebiowei could well follow in Plange’s footsteps and started Derby’s final 11 Championship games as a right-winger, scoring and providing an assist in a 2-0 win over Blackpool.

He can play anywhere across the front three and is a man in demand, so it could be wise for the Eagles to firm up their interest over the coming weeks, aiming to take advantage of Derby’s financial struggles once again.

In other news: ‘Interested…’ – Transfer insider drops big Palace claim involving ‘brilliant’ EPL supremo. 

Manchester United are once again being linked with a sensational move for Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni, according to Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness). 

The lowdown: United linked with Bastoni

A product of the youth system at Serie A club Atalanta, Bastoni is a rising star of Italian football and has already amassed 120 top-flight outings despite his tender years.

Recently, an initial report from FC Inter 1908 claimed that the Red Devils are keen on the 23-year-old Italy international, who is under contract in Milan until 2024 (Transfermarkt).

It now seems as though that interest could be growing, as a reputable Italian newspaper provides a fresh update…

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The latest: Ten Hag’s admiration for Bastoni

As per Gazzetta dello Sport, translated by Sport Witness, United are in the mix to sign Bastoni as Inter try to avoid selling Lautaro Martinez.

It is claimed that Erik ten Hag likes the 11-cap Italy defender ‘a lot’ and that the Red Devils present the ‘most credible’ interest in making the move happen.

The report added that it would take a fee of ‘at least’ €60m (£51.1m) in order to make the deal to bring the youngster a reality.

The verdict: Statement signing

As Ten Hag gets to grips with the task at hand at Old Trafford, signing a player of Bastoni’s calibre would be a remarkable start to his reign in Manchester.

Despite adding Raphael Varane to a defence containing Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly, United continued to leak goals at an alarming rate, posting the worst concession rate among the top seven finishers in the Premier League.

During the 2021/22 campaign, the 6 foot 3 giant earned an outstanding 7.10 Sofascore rating whilst winning 4.1 duels and making 1.8 clearances and 1.4 tackles on average per game. He has also been hailed as ‘world class’ by journalist Kaustubh Pandey.

That form, combined with the scope in which the 23-year-old has to develop even further, makes the £54m-valued Bastoni a worthy target for bolster United’s defensive ranks.

In other news: Man Utd and Ten Hag launch ‘important offer’ to sign ‘the future’ of football along with De Jong

Tottenham are interested in a deal to bring Alessandro Bastoni to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness), who claimed that Antonio Conte has put the Inter Milan centre-back at the top of his transfer wish list, with Fabio Paratici said to be readying a major bid for the 23-year-old at the end of the current campaign.

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The report added that the Serie A giants may be willing to sanction the sale of the Italy international this summer, so long as they were to receive an offer in the region of €70m (£59m), as this would allow Simone Inzaghi to keep hold of a number of his other key players heading into the 2022/23 campaign.

“A phenomenon”

Considering the sheer amount of potential that Bastoni quite clearly possesses, and with Conte having a previous working relationship with the defender, it is not difficult to understand why the 52-year-old would be interested in a deal to bring the starlet to north London this summer.

Indeed, over his 30 Serie A appearances this season, the £59m-rated talent has been imperious in the heart of the Inter defence, helping his side to keep eight clean sheets, along with making 1.2 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 1.9 clearances and winning 4.1 duels (at a success rate of 60%) per game.

The 23-year-old left-footer has also impressed going forwards, scoring one goal, registering three assists and creating four big chances for his team-mates, in addition to making 50.8 passes, four long balls and 0.5 key passes per fixture.

These returns have seen the £122k-per-week youngster – who Italian football expert Conor Clancy dubbed “a phenomenon” – average a quite sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.10, ranking him as Inzaghi’s eighth-best performer in Serie A.

Furthermore, FBRef rank the Italian in the top 1% of centre-backs in Europe’s big five leagues for progressive passes received per 90, along with the top 4% for shot-creating actions, the top 10% for assists, the top 11% for progressive carries, the top 12% for xA, the top 14% for progressive passes and the top 15% for pressures over the last 365 days.

These metrics see the 11-cap Italy international earn comparisons to some of the world’s best players in his position, such as Bayern Munich trio Dayot Upamecano, Niklas Sule and Lucas Hernandez.

As such, with it being reported that a new left-sided centre-back is one of Conte’s priority targets in the summer transfer window, it is clear that Bastoni would be something of a perfect signing for Paratici to get over the line in the coming months.

AND in other news: Spurs “have made contact” for “superb” £125k-p/w target, he’d be a “monster” for Conte

According to a report from reputable German outlet SportBILD (via Sport Witness), Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in signing Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Sebastian Rode. 

The lowdown: European glory

Having enjoyed somewhat of a journeyman career across Germany, the 31-year-old spent time at Kickers Offenbach, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund before arriving at newly crowed Europa League winners Frankfurt in 2019.

Rode has since made 228 appearances for the Bundesliga side and was named captain in June 2021 before playing a leading role in the victory over Rangers in Seville on Wednesday night.

The experienced defensive midfielder earned an impressive 7.20 Sofascore rating on Wednesday night, winning five duels, making four key passes and creating one big chance, all whilst suffering from a badly cut head early on in the match.

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Now a move out of his homeland may beckon…

The latest: Wolves make pre-summer approach

As per SportBILD, translated by SW, Wolves and Brentford have both ‘already approached’ Rode regarding the move.

It’s claimed that the Wanderers initiated the contract following performances in Europe that were ‘so good’ that Bruno Lage has acted upon the interest.

Under contract until 2024 (Transfermarkt), it’s not stated how much it would take to prise away the man who was once Pep Guardiola’s ‘favourite player’ during their time together at Bayern.

The verdict: Smart signing

Albeit the combative former Germany youth ace isn’t getting any younger, with doubts over the future of Leander Dendoncker, Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves at Molineux, signing Rode would be a huge boost to Lage’s squad depth.

So far this season, the midfield warrior – who is a close stylistic match with Molineux stalwart Moutinho (Fbref) – has scored once in 28 appearances across all competitions.

Regardless of the aforementioned midfield trio’s status at the club beyond the summer, with five major honours to his name, Rode would be a smart capture as Wolves look to move onto the next step of their development in the Premier League.

In other news… Wanderers are now believed to be the ‘main favourites’ in the race for one of their summer transfer targets.

Sheffield United host Nottingham Forest this afternoon for the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final, with both sides hopeful of making it to the Premier League.

The Blades could secure promotion back to the top-flight at the first time of asking after last season’s relegation, whereas Forest haven’t been amongst English football’s elite for 23 years.

Paul Heckingbottom and his players will be particularly cautious that they don’t make a mistake which could cost them the tie after the first leg, but how are the South Yorkshire outfit looking ahead of today’s clash?

Injury news

As per Nottinghamshire Live, Blades captain Billy Sharp is edging closer to a return, with Heckingbottom stating: “Bill’s another few days closer. We’d like him to be (available), if he’s able to play some part in the tie. If he’s not ready, he’s not ready. He is doing all he can and the staff are doing all they can to make sure there is that opportunity.”

Meanwhile, both Morgan Gibbs-White and George Baldock appear to be available, whilst long-term absentees Rhian Brewster, Jayden Bogle, Oli McBurnie and Jack O’Connell all remain sidelined.

Sheffield United predicted XI

After a thumping 4-0 victory over Championship winners Fulham on the final day to secure a play-off spot, whether or not Heckingbottom will make changes to that side for today’s match is up for debate.

Here is how Football FanCast expects the Blades to line up against Nottingham Forest…

Sheffield United XI: Foderingham, Basham, Egan, Robinson, Baldock, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens, Berge, Gibbs-White, Ndiaye

With uncertainty as to whether or not Sharp will be fit to make the squad, we don’t expect the striker to be ready to start this afternoon.

The only change from the victory over Fulham comes at right-wing-back, with Baldock taking the place of Ben Osborn.

With the 29-year-old now appearing to be fully fit after only being able to make the bench last weekend, he returns to the starting line-up to make his first appearance in almost a month.

Labelled “superb” by BBC pundit Garth Crooks after a goal against Norwich City in the 2019/20 season, the £23k-per-week Englishman is a kingpin for the Blades and deserves to feature in their biggest match of the season so far.

The decision would arguably be harsh on Osborn, whose last goal for United came in a 3-2 victory at Barnsley in October, a game which the wing-back described as “mad”.

Having gone through the youth ranks at Nottingham Forest and joined the Blades from the Reds, the 27-year-old has had a solid season, making 34 appearances in the Championship.

However, being predominantly a left-sided player, Baldock pips the £2.2m-rated Derby native to a place in the starting lineup now that he is fit.

It’s a crunch game for both sides, who will be looking to get themselves one step closer to Wembley after today’s showdown at Bramall Lane.

AND in other news: This is the Forest predicted XI that FFC is forecasting

Harry Kane was left a mere passenger as Tottenham Hotspur held out for a draw against title-chasing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday evening.

Perhaps it was a by-product of the way Antonio Conte set up his side but the England skipper struggled to have any sort of influence on the game as a late, deflected Luiz Diaz strike salvaged a point for the home side.

Heung-min Son had opened the scoring in typical fashion, slotting home from six yards out after Ryan Sessegnon squared the ball across the box for his 20th Premier League goal of the season.

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But in lasting the whole 90 minutes, Kane was pretty anonymous barring one or two flashes at goal. He registered the fewest touches of any Spurs starter (35), three less than goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (38), who was also much better in possession.

Indeed, the £90m-rated talisman made only 50% of his passes, attempting just 18 all match. By comparison, Lloris made 20 successful passes, which includes goal kicks and was more than Kane’s overall attempts, via SofaScore.

Kane also struggled to make much of an impact inside the box, failing to register a single shot on or off target, with his only effort being blocked.

Meanwhile, from his 35 touches, he lost possession 16 times, meaning he gifted the ball back to Jurgen Klopp’s Reds once every two times he had the ball, which was also once every 5.6 minutes.

The 28-year-old striker is in a rough patch right now, scoring just once in his last seven league outings but he’s always going to struggle to find the net if he’s only seeing the ball every five or six minutes – he certainly won’t get on the scoresheet without a shot on target either.

As The Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick wrote in his post-match ratings column, the Lilywhites forward was ‘a yard off the pace, which hampered Spurs’ ability to play on the counter,’ whilst he was among Alasdair Gold’s worst-rated starters, too.

Kane may have had a big part to play in Son’s opener, providing a sublime pass to Sessegnon out wide but aside from that, he was left a shadow of his goalscoring best.

The Englishman was once dubbed a “monster” by his South Korean teammate for his efforts in a 4-1 win over this very team back in 2017, so to deliver this sort of performance is a big contrast.

Fewer touches than the goalkeeper, no shots on target – Kane certainly suffered as a striker at Anfield but that’s not his fault, given the way Conte set up his side this weekend.

AND in other news, Forget Son: “Sensational” Spurs titan who had 11 clearances stole the show at Anfield…