Nzonzi would be a solid Dembele replacement for Tottenham

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Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly keen on signing Steven Nzonzi this summer.

Calciomercatonews claim the Lilywhites are ready to challenge north London rivals Arsenal over the former Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City enforcer.

Spurs have been interested in Nzonzi before, with football.london having reported interest last summer, before Nzonzi switched to Roma from Sevilla for £27.3 million (BBC Sport).

Nzonzi has emerged as a key figure for the Italian outfit this season, making 28 appearances across all competitions.

A solid Dembele replacement

Tottenham need to replace the departed Mousa Dembele, who left the club in January to join Guangzhou R&F.

The Belgian maestro has been one of the best, and most underrated holding midfielders in the Premier League in recent years, and Spurs will have a hard task replacing him and the unique qualities he brought.

But Nzonzi wouldn’t be such a bad replacement.

The World Cup winner doesn’t possess the same technical qualities or drive as Dembele, but is a solid midfield anchor who is very difficult for opponents to get past.

His discipline to effectively screen the defense is what sets him apart from a lot of players in his position, and he has experience of playing in three top five European leagues.

He appears not to be affected by his advancing years, and so could be a good signing for Tottenham – although it’s unlikely Roma would want to lose him for anything less than what they paid for him.