Paulo Di Canio recently criticised £55m-rated defender Tottenham reportedly in talks to sign

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Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly opened talks to sign Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar as Jose Mourinho looks to bring a central defender to the north London club – but the Slovakian came in for criticism from Paolo Di Canio last season.

Jan Vertonghen left Spurs at the start of the summer and has since joined Benfica on a free. It leaves Mourinho with just Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier at centre-back – with Japhet Tanganga still young and Juan Foyth likely to go.

Sky Italy journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has claimed talks have begun between Tottenham and Inter for Skriniar, with the Italians rating him at £55million – a figure Levy wants to reduce. CalcioMercato say Spurs representatives have travelled to Italy.

Back in March, West Ham icon Di Canio was complimentary about Skriniar, but also heavily criticised the Slovakia international. The Italian identified that Skriniar “doesn’t know what to do” when a striker drops off.

“Skriniar is good, he’s excellent at man-marking, being close to his opponent and keeping the pressure on. However, when the opponent is at a distance, he doesn’t know what to do. He gets confused.

“We saw it against Barcelona and Lazio. With Juventus, he should’ve intercepted the Blaise Matuidi cross at the by-line, instead he pulled his foot out of the way,” Di Canio was quoted as saying, as per Football Italia.

TBR’s view – At £55million, Skriniar is too expensive

Especially when we consider Di Canio’s comments. It is clear Skriniar is far from the finished article, but at 25, he has plenty of time to correct those faults and become one of Europe’s best central defenders.

If Levy can work his magic – not for the first time in this window – and reduce that asking price to a fee in the region of £40million and £45million, then a deal for Skriniar would make a lot more sense.