Tottenham Hotspur have overtaken Nottingham Forest and are now in pole position in the race to sign Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi from Serie A club Atalanta, according to a report from Tutto Atalanta.
It is being claimed that Atalanta prefer offload Malinovsky on a permanent basis, however, Tottenham are said to want a season-long loan with an option or even an obligation to buy next summer.
The 29-year-old attacking midfielder has apparently given the go-ahead to join the Lilywhites this summer and it is up to the two clubs to negotiate and arrive at an agreement that suits both parties.
It was claimed that Nottingham Forest were keen on signing the creative midfielder, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano but he also said that they were not the only club in the race and it looks like Spurs have moved to the front of the queue.
Should Malinovskyi make the switch, he would become the eighth signing that Tottenham make this summer following Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Fraser Forster, Ivan Perisic, Clement Lenglet, Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie.
Our View
Spurs have lacked the presence of a creative midfielder ever since Christian Eriksen left the club and have never really managed to replace the Danish superstar.
Conte has shown that he can play a system with an attacking midfielder before, even using Christian Eriksen in such a position at Inter and Malinovskyi will offer the Italian tactician the flexibility to play around with the system that he wants to deploy. The Ukrainian will be a shrewd acquisition to allow Spurs to switch up their style when needed.
