Tottenham have submitted a £22.7m offer for Roger Ibanez but will have to dig a little deeper if they want to sign the on-loan AS Roma centre-back this summer, according to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.
Jose Mourinho has already signed five new recruits so far this summer as he looks to overhaul his squad and build a team capable of breaking back into the top four having missed out on Champions League qualification last season.
Spurs completed the sensational signing of Gareth Bale on loan from Real Madrid earlier this month while left-back Sergio Reguilon, goalkeeper Joe Hart, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and right-back Matt Doherty have also arrived.
However, Mourinho is still in the market for further reinforcements and a new centre-back is on the agenda as Tottenham need to find a replacement for Jan Vertonghen after he left the club following the expiration of his contract.
Spurs have been strongly linked with Milan Skriniar recently and Gazzetta dello Sport claims the 25-year-old is ready to move to London but Tottenham are struggling to agree terms with Inter Milan.
It means Mourinho is looking at alternatives and it appears Ibanez has emerged as a potential target as Il Messaggero claims that Tottenham have submitted an opening £22.7m [€25m] offer for the defender.
However, the Italian outlet says Tottenham’s bid has already been knocked back and any potential deal is complicated by the fact Ibanez isn’t technically a Roma player yet as he’s still on loan from Atalanta.
The 21-year-old joined Roma in January on an 18-month loan deal with a view to a permanent £7.3m move in the summer of 2021 after struggling to break into the first team set-up at Atalanta.
Roma could try and activate the permanent deal early and sell to Tottenham to turn a quick profit but it remains to be seen how Atalanta would feel about that. Either way, Il Messaggero suggests that Spurs would have to come back with an improved offer as £22.7m isn’t going to be enough to persuade Roma to cash-in.
Ibanez is a promising young Brazilian centre-back and looks to have a bright future ahead of him but it remains to be seen whether Tottenham will be prepared to increase their offer and try to negotiate a complex deal for the South American this summer.
