Report: Tottenham will have to pay £52m to land Inter ace Milan Skriniar

By Lee Clarke

Tottenham Hotspur will have to fork out £52 million if they are to land long-term target Milan Skriniar, according to Sempre Inter.

Spurs have fancied the burly central defender for quite some time and even made a previous bid of £30 million for the Slovakian.

Inter were undeterred in their efforts to keep him though and have now increased their valuation of the player.

(Photo; Emilio Andreoli; Getty Images)

Tottenham’s season has gone badly off the rails since Big Ben struck midnight to bring in the New Year.

Jose Mourinho’s team have lost five of their last six league games and face a challenge to confirm European football again.

Prior to Christmas outsiders were backing Tottenham for a title challenge. Yesterday’s defeat to West Ham leaves them nine points adrift of the top four and their Champions League prospects look bleak.

With that in mind, it seems clear that Mourinho will have made his mind up already on some of his defensive options.

A real leader has been missing at the back and adding Skriniar could help address that in the summer.

Spurs will have to fork out though, with Inter clearly valuing their player extremely high.

Skriniar has become a fan favourite at the San Siro since checking in from Sampdoria in 2017. He has played 154 times for the club and has proved instrumental to the team.

The centre-back earns £95,000-a-week in Italy and the total package is likely to hit Tottenham in the pocket.

TBR View: Spurs need for Skriniar becoming greater by the week

Tottenham are in dire straits right now and desperately need a run of form – and quick.

The defending in recent weeks has been nothing short of abysmal and it looks as though a new enforcer-type figure will be a must in the summer.

(Photo; Claudio Villa; Inter; Inter; Getty Images)

Toby Alderweireld hasn’t been overly fancied by Mourinho, whilst the jury remains out on Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez.

Tottenham have genuinely world-class players such as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in attack but their defence is letting them down.

If Mourinho is still in charge come the summer, he must continue in the race for Skriniar.