Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to beat Louis van Gaal to the signing of Cagliari’s Davide Astori.
A transfer war seems to be hotting up when it comes to the pursuit of 27 year-old defender Davide Astori from Serie A side Cagliari, with Tottenham Hotspur joining Manchester United in the chase for a player who was surprisingly left out of the Italy squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup by Cesare Prandelli.
According to reports in the Daily Mirror today, Spurs are weighing up a bid of around £9.75 million for Astori, who would come in to strengthen a defence that appears to be emerging as one of the new manager’s top priorities at White Hart Lane.
It seems as though Cagliari’s sporting director Nicola Salerno is keen for the defender to stay at the club, however, with him saying:
”At this moment, some big clubs in England and across Europe are following Davide. He has an international market because he is a very, very good defender – one of the best left-sided centre-backs in the game.”
“Astori has one year remaining on contract, but could well leave Cagliari. If he does, though, it must be for big money.”
This is high praise indeed for Astori, a player who has made over 140 appearances for his Serie A club since arriving from AC Milan, a place where he made no senior league appearances despite impressive loan spells with Pizzighettone and Cremonense.
Whilst £9.75m would be a significant fee for a defender, Astori is a classy enough player to justify such expense, particularly considering the fragile states that the defences at both White Hart Lane and Old Trafford find themselves in.
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