Tottenham Hotspur are competing for the signing of Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen, according to The Daily Star

The lowdown

The 25-year-old Chelsea contract is due to expire at the end of the season, meaning he could walk away as a free agent.

Blues manager Thomas Tuchel has said that the Dane has indicated his desire to remain at Stamford Bridge, but also expressed frustration that he is yet to formally commit to the west London club.

A £140,000-per-week deal (almost doubling his current £80,000-per-week salary) was 'practically agreed' as far as back as August, only for Christensen to hesitate.

He's not the only player that Spurs are reportedly interested in taking from their London rivals, with Antonio Rudiger's name also mentioned.

The latest

As per The Daily Star, Conte has identified defensive reinforcements as an 'absolute priority', and Spurs are now in the frame for Christensen.

There's domestic competition from Manchester United and Manchester City, along with interest abroad from AC Milan and Barcelona.

It 'remains to be seen' whether the Lilywhites have a 'realistic' chance of capturing him.

The verdict

Christensen would be an excellent addition for Conte and Spurs. He formed part of a Chelsea defence which conceded only four goals en route to winning last season's Champions League, and he has helped them to keep five of their eight Premier League clean sheets so far this term.

He could be described as a ball-playing centre-back - he ranks in the 94th percentile among positional peers in the top five leagues for passes attempted, the 93rd percentile for pass completion and the 85th percentile for progressive carries. According to FBRef, he's stylistically similar to Juventus and Italy centre-half Giorgio Chiellini.

Compatriot and Brentford manager Thomas Frank, who managed Christensen at youth level for Denmark, has described him as 'the complete package' and 'enormously intelligent'. Given such praise and given the statistics mentioned above, it's easy to see why Spurs would love to have the 25-year-old in N17.

In other news, Conte also his eye on this Serie A centre-back