Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has asked Fabio Paratici for two defensive reinforcements in January, according to Calciomercato.

The lowdown

Spurs are seventh in the Premier League but their tally of 17 goals conceded equals that of 10th-placed Crystal Palace and 14th-placed Brentford (via Understat). Indeed, they've allowed 18.04 expected goals against, suggesting that they've been slightly fortunate not to concede more.

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Spurs started the campaign with three consecutive 1-0 wins in the top flight, but they've only kept one clean sheet since then in the Premier League, despite the Lilywhites strengthening their defensive ranks in the summer transfer window with moves for Cristian Romero (initially on loan) and Emerson Royal (£22.5million).

The latest

Calciomercato claimed that Conte wants to 'overturn' the Spurs backline and has asked director of football Paratici to furnish with him two new signings in that department.

The 'dream' scenario for the new Spurs boss would be a double deal for Inter's Alessandro Bastoni, a player with whom he worked at the San Siro, and Juventus' Matthijs de Ligt.

The verdict

Bastoni was part of the Italy squad which won last summer's European Championship, featuring in the 1-0 win over Wales in the group stage. The £54m-rated 22-year-old recently taunted beaten finalists England, accusing them of 'celebrating' prematurely prior to the Wembley showpiece.

He is a composed distributor of the ball, with an 89.2% passing success rate in Serie A this season (only one Spurs player has bettered that in the Premier League), while he averages 1.4 successful tackles per game, indicating that he is difficult for opponents to beat.

De Ligt is the same age as Bastoni but boasts a higher estimated value of £63m. He won the Golden Boy award in 2018 and featured in the Champions League team of the season the following year. The Dutchman is a colossus in the air, winning 3.2 headers per game - more than anyone in Spurs' current squad.

It's easy to see why Conte might want the pair in north London, but their lofty price tags suggest that it may remain nothing more than a 'dream'.

In other news, read this journalist's exciting claim about a Spurs-linked Serie A striker