Report: Tottenham have been scouting 'the best defender in the world'

Tottenham Hotspur could certainly do with bolstering their defensive ranks in the summer.

And according to 90Min, Spurs have been scouting a player deemed “the best defender in the world”.

The player in question is Kim Min-jae, who helped Napoli win the Serie A title last week.

90Min claims Tottenham had scouts at the champions’ stadium for their 1-0 win over Fiorentina.

However, Spurs were far from the only club with representation at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

As well as Tottenham, the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea also had scouts in attendance.

The report also claims Napoli have accepted they might have to sell Kim this summer.

They cited sources saying the Scudetto winners would find it hard to reject bids of €60m (£52m) or above.

Second chance for Spurs this summer?

Tottenham must be kicking themselves, considering they had identified Kim as a transfer target years ago.

Jose Mourinho previously spoke of trying to secure the services of the defender when he was at Spurs.

“I can tell you a story about one of their players,” talkSPORT quotes Mourinho as saying.

“I spoke to him on FaceTime and wanted to buy him at Tottenham, but Tottenham didn’t help me.”

Meanwhile, Fenerbahce president Ali Koc is quoted as saying: “Jose Mourinho wanted Kim Min-Jae (in 2020).

“But (Spurs) did not pay the 14 million euros.”

Kim has now shown he is a world-class centre-half who would improve the back line of any club in the world.

Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti recently called him “the best defender in the world” on DAZN, via talkSPORT.

Despite their earlier disappointment, Tottenham may well have another chance of landing Kim this summer.

Obviously they’d have to pay a lot more, but if we’re looking for a silver lining, Spurs now know for sure he is proven at the very highest level.

The problem is, so do the best clubs in the world.