Report: Tottenham will now have to pay over £78m if they want to sign ‘incredible’ player

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte will be dreaming about the club bringing in some new recruits in January.

After another disappointing outing, this time against Aston Villa, the club have fallen out of the top four.

A report from The Athletic has provided an update on one of their proposed transfer targets.

If it were up to Conte, he would probably be looking to upgrade in virtually every position in his squad.

There were lacklustre performances across the pitch on New Year’s Day as they failed to come from behind once again.

Conte would have particularly worried to see that all three of his centre-backs picked up bookings.

Each of them struggled with various aspects of Villa’s attack that has already shown signs of improvement under Unai Emery.

Speaking to Last Word on Spurs, Sky Sports journalist Lyall Thomas suggested that RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol is still a target for Spurs.

However, the Athletic now believe that Gvardiol’s price tag has increased in recent months.

This will be a concern for Tottenham, given that the German club previously quoted nearly £78m for the Croatian.

Tottenham target Gvardiol’s price tag has increased

The report states that, ‘the last sum quoted for him was £77.8million, which is less than what the Bundesliga club will ask for now following his fine displays for Croatia at the World Cup.

‘Plus, there is a lot more competition for his signature now.’

The ‘incredible’ defender is also of interest to Chelsea, although they look set to sign Benoit Badiashile from Monaco instead.

Bayern Munich also appear to have ruled themselves out of a move for the Croatian, after signing Mathijs de Ligt last summer.

Liverpool are another side who are keen on Gvardiol, but may also be put off now that his price has increased.

They look much more likely to go after Jude Bellingham as their marquee signing in the summer.

It would be an incredible show of ambition is Tottenham were to try and sign Gvardiol.

He would be the club’s record transfer, but also a defender they could build their team around for years to come.