Tottenham target £33m Inter midfielder raid with Postecoglou signing offered up as bait

Tottenham are reportedly keeping a watch on Albania midfielder and Inter Milan star Kristjan Asllani at Euro 2024 – with a swap deal for a recent recruit potentially accelerating a possible transfer.

The midfielder began his career at Empoli in Serie B in 2020/21, before enjoying a breakout season the following campaign in Serie A.

That brought the Albania international, who featured in both his country’s opening Euro 2024 matches – to the attention of Inter, who paid just over £10m two years ago to bring him to the San Siro.

While he has racked up 60 appearances for the Nerazzurri, just 16 of those have been in the starting XI – with the 22-year-old regularly coming off the bench for cameo displays.

Last summer, Asllani was linked with a loan move to Sassuolo and Fiorentina but he chose to stay and fight for his place in the team – something that, ultimately has not borne much fruit.

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Last September, he said: “Of course, a loan move away was a possibility. But after speaking with the club I decided to stay at Inter. That was always my big dream.”

With Turkey international Hakan Calhanoglu continuing to keep him out of the starting line-up, Asllani, whose contract runs until 2027, has once again been linked with an Inter exit.

Tottenham linked with Inter youngster

According to InterLive.it, Spurs have identified the young midfielder, who has also been linked with Aston Villa, but he will cost between £30m-£33m to lure him away from the Serie A champions.

The report adds that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy could offer 2024 recruit and Romania international defender Radu Dragusin in exchange for Asllani, who was reportedly previously wanted by former Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi in the summer of 2023.

However, it is unlikely the 22-year-old would leave Spurs just six months or so after arriving from Genoa for £21.5m.

Plus, manager Ange Postecoglou appears to see him as part of his long-term plans – despite him playing second fiddle to first-choice centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Moreover, Dragusin’s agent, Florin Manea, insists his player made the right choice in joining Spurs.

He told Romanian outlet TV Play: “With Drăgușin we always made the right choices. His childhood dream was to play in the Premier League, last summer Bayern offered him twice as much but he chose Tottenham. He thinks about his career, he is a very intelligent footballer.”

Tottenham may be on the look out for a new midfielder, especially after they terminated the contract of £53.8m flop Tanguy Ndombele; while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg could also leave the north London club due to a lack of game time. 

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Overall, there may be too many moving pieces for this deal to happen but stranger things have happened in the transfer window.