Here is your Tottenham morning digest on Monday, May 30
Spurs 'set price' for Lo Celso
Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly willing to sell Giovani Lo Celso this summer, however, the Lilywhites will demand around €20million (£16.9m) for his services. The Argentine midfielder struggled for game time under Antonio Conte and spent the second half of last season on-loan at Spanish side Villarreal.
Lo Celso impressed during his spell at the Estadio de la Ceramica, playing a key role in their run to the Champions League semi-finals. However, according to Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano, Spurs are prepared to sell the 26-year-old in the upcoming window.
The Argentine arrived in north London from Paris Saint Germain on a season’s loan in the summer of 2019 and his deal was made permanent the following January. However, Lo Celso has struggled to establish himself in Spurs’ starting XI under a number of different managers; and it appears that they’re set to cash in on him this summer.
READ MORE: Tottenham's Champions League pot and the teams Antonio Conte's side can face in the group stage
Defence is the priority this summer
Fabio Paratici is looking to strengthen Antonio Conte's defence at Tottenham as his first priority in the summer transfer window.
The Spurs head coach improved his back line on the pitch over the course of his seven months and the club ended up with the Premier League's fourth-best defensive record, ending the season with five clean sheets from their final eight matches. However, with the Champions League also on the table next season Conte has asked for his defensive options to be strengthened in order to be able to rotate for the numerous matches without losing quality.
The Italian stuck with the same back three for much of the second half of the campaign in Cristian Romero, Eric Dier and Ben Davies and would likely have done so for much of the season had Romero not missed three months with a hamstring injury. At the end of the campaign Conte was also left with only two fit wing-backs in Ryan Sessegnon and Emerson Royal, both of whom have had their own injury issues in recent months.
Read the full story here.
Top four finish gives Spurs edge in transfer market
As the opening of the summer transfer window approaches, Tottenham have already been linked with players from across the world. Spurs finished their season on a high and ended the 2021/22 campaign in fourth place.
This secured Tottenham's place in the Champions League for next season and meant that their north London rivals Arsenal missed out on a place in the top European competition. This was all helped by Antonio Conte's arrival in November, the influence he had on the Spurs squad and the impact of Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, after they made the move to N17 in January.
Due to the Lilywhites securing their Champions League spot, it is likely to give them a boost when targeting potential players to bring to north London and an advantage they have over Arsenal. This could work in their favour when the rivals are battling to get the same player, which could be the case with Darwin Nunez.
Read the full story here.
