Transfer battles continue, as clubs try and sign the best players for their squads, ahead of the 2022/23 season. Tottenham have already begun strengthening their side, giving Antonio Conte three new arrivals this summer, so far.
Spurs could do with more strength in depth all over the pitch. Although the Italian's back three, regularly consisting of Ben Davies, Cristian Romero and Eric Dier, produced some solid displays as a defensive trio, more options are needed ahead of the next campaign.
Joe Rodon looks more than likely to make an exit this summer, although it remains to be seen whether this will be permanently or temporarily. There could still be decisions over the futures of Davinson Sanchez and Japhet Tanganga, with interest from Atletico Madrid for the latter.
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Regardless of which defenders do make a move away from Spurs, at least one more will be required. The main priority is likely to be a left centre-back, with Davies being the only one who can really fulfil that role.
However, reinforcements across the backline are likely to be welcome and football.london reported earlier this month that Marc Guehi is understood to be one of the many players on Tottenham's centre-back wishlist. The England international made 36 Premier League appearances last season, starting in all of them, becoming a key player under Patrick Vieira.
The 21-year-old has received deserved praise in recent times, as his quality earned him a place in Gareth Southgate's England team. Last year, whilst on duty with the England U21 squad, some of the players were asked to pick the strongest player.
"Easy, Marc Guehi. He’s an absolute tank," Stoke City goalkeeper Josef Bursik admitted. "It’s like having a brick wall in front of you, he’s massive."
Strength is an inevitable key quality for a defender and something Conte's back line showed last season. If Spurs were to bring in new defenders, a player with strength would be vital to deal with Premier League opposition.
Before his move to Palace, Guehi spent more than a decade at Chelsea and the move has proven beneficial for the defender, which Thomas Tuchel commended, earlier this year. "You cannot go back and reflect at this point. When we took the decisions it was the right thing to do given the circumstances. For example, individual decisions," Tuchel said.
"For Marc Guehi it is a fantastic development. It is impossible now to say if we kept him he would have been better, been worse or been the same. Maybe he needed that [to leave]."
"Maybe he needed the change of environment, a different club, a different role, more minutes to develop your full potential. It just tells you over and over again that if you trust younger players and have a role for them, they can on a very regular level match expectations and even overperform," the Blues boss added.
With the transfer window open and Guehi's links to N17, perhaps the defender could repeat his Chelsea trick with a move to Tottenham. Tuchel's comments on needing to "trust younger players" and how a "change of environment" may have helped the England international's success at Palace so far, could be replicated at Spurs.
If Guehi had the chance to move to a club with top facilities, a world-class manager and the chance to play in the Champions League, could that not aid his development even more? Conte showed last season that he can put trust in young players, with the likes of Ryan Sessegnon and Dejan Kulusevski getting regular game time and impressing.
Therefore a move to Spurs could have the potential to unleash the 21-year-old's full potential. However a deal may not be so easy.
Although Guehi would boost Tottenham's homegrown numbers, his contract doesn't expire until 2026, meaning he would come at a cost. According to CIES, the defender has a market value of up to £60.3million and that may not be the sort of money the club want to spend.
This is also something that former Lilywhites goalkeeper Paul Robinson mentioned, when giving his verdict on the Palace man. "Guehi is a good player but he’s had one good season," he told Football Insider, earlier this month.
"It would be a difficult deal for Spurs to do from Palace. Guehi has had a really good season in a transformed Palace side. Then will not want to break up a team that has only just started under Patrick Vieira.
"Spurs will look to the Italian market before doing business in the Premier League. It’s a lot cheaper," Robinson added.
It is clear that Guehi has shown the quality he can bring to a team and he could be a solid addition to Conte's side. Spurs may believe he is more of a player for the future, but if they hang around, he may get snapped up by another side.
Only time will tell whether Tottenham pursue their interest in Vieira's defender and more importantly if they do, whether all parties can come to the right compromise, to secure a deal.
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