Tottenham are the frontrunners to sign a Serie A centre-back heading into the 2024 summer transfer window.

Tottenham want a centre-back

Tottenham have been one of the more entertaining sides to watch in the Premier League this season. Their free-flowing attack has led to plenty of high-scoring games involving the Lilywhites, with their shaky backline often making their fixtures a great watch for neutrals.

While Tottenham's goalscoring ability no doubt pleases Ange Postecoglou, especially after the departure of Harry Kane, their defensive woes – six clean sheets in 35 games – have been a cause for concern this season. In turn, the Australian tactician spoke at length earlier in 2023/24 about his desire to sign a centre-back:

"If you’re saying, ‘Is it an area we can strengthen?’, yes it’s an area we will probably look at,” said Postecoglou on Spurs signing another centre-back. "With all these things, it’s about trying to strengthen the group as much as anything else. If you think about when I first arrived, we had maybe six or seven centre-backs at the club.

"So it’s not just numbers. It’s more about the ability of those players to play the football we want and to fit into what we’re trying to build here. I think it is an area of the park we will look to strengthen, but I think we’ll look to strengthen all areas of the park come the end of the season. That is planning that’s already underway, and other people are in charge of it at the moment."

However, despite the wishes of Postecoglou, Tottenham have primarily been tipped to make moves for players further up the pitch this summer, with the likes of Ivan Toney and Eberechi Eze linked with moves from across London.

Now, however, the Lilywhites finally appear to have nailed down a target who can help plug their leaky defence.

Tottenham frontrunners for £34m star

As per Italian outlet Calciomercato, Tottenham are "above all" in the race to sign the Torino defender Alessandro Buongiorno. The report adds that the defender is valued at €40m, or around £34m.

The 24-year-old is a product of Torino's academy and has notched 107 appearances for their senior side, including 29 this season.

His impressive club form over the last year also earned him his first call-up to the Italian national team in 2023. He was then singled out for praise on his Italy debut by Roberto Mancini in June 2023. Buongiorno became the 78th Torino player to represent the Azzurri, starting the 3-2 victory over the Netherlands in Enschede that allowed them to take third place in the Nations League.

“It was not easy, especially as he is not used to this style of football, but Buongiorno was excellent and really applied himself well," Mancini said.

After his debut for Italy, Buongiorno spoke of his ability to play in a three or four-man backline, something Tottenham would no doubt find useful: “I can fit into a three-man defence or four, but my teammates were also very helpful with their advice. I thank them and am very happy.”