What do Piero Hincapie, Josko Gvardiol, Alessandro Bastoni and Jakub Kiwior all have in common? Apart from the fact that, if you were to draw up a list of the most exciting young centre-backs in European football, the aforementioned quartet would all feature somewhere upon it.
Well, in fact, there are actually two things connecting Hincapie, Gvardiol, Bastoni and Kiwior; three of whom are currently over in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
All are left-footed. And, at some point over the last few weeks, all have been linked with Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur. Coincidence? Well, probably not.
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur want a new defender in 2023
Gvardiol, who has a very affordable £44 million release clause in his RB Leipzig contract, finds himself at the centre of a transfer tug-of-war, two London giants holding either end of the rope. Ivan Perisic, TMW say, is hoping to convince his fellow Croatian to choose Spurs over Chelsea.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Ecuador international Piero Hincapie, meanwhile, admits that he finds Tottenham’s interest flattering. Poland’s ‘extraordinary’ rising star Kiwior is another target (Mundo Deportivo).
And then there’s Bastoni. A firm favourite of Antonio Conte from their time together at Inter Milan (the admiration is mutual, by the way); Bastoni is, per Dean Jones, something of a ‘dream signing’ for the men from North London.
“Football has changed. In recent years, there has been a reluctance from Italians to go abroad,” former Italy international Matteo Brighi says of a ball-playing, extremely technical centre-half. Bastoni famously described Conte as ‘the Messi of coaches’ during their time together at San Siro.
“Bastoni has imposed himself at Inter,” Brighi adds. “The next step is to compete in the Premier League. With (a club) whom he will play permanently in Europe.”
Now, as far as transfer speculation goes, smoke does not always mean fire. But Clement Lenglet’s loan deal expires next summer. And with four different potential replacements reportedly on Spurs’ radar heading into the New Year, expect to see a new left-sided centre-half arrive sooner rather than later.
Whether it’s Gvardiol, Bastoni, Kiwior, Hincapie or someone else entirely, however, only time will tell.
