Tottenham Hotspur are interested in Torino defender Alessandro Buongiorno – but that interest may not be reciprocated by the Italian himself.
Ange Postecoglou finds himself under the most pressure since taking the Tottenham job last summer.
The Australian is arguably under more scrutiny than he has faced in many years with Tottenham now on a four-game losing run.
Champions League qualification is slipping away and Tottenham fans will be hoping for an upturn in form – and performances – before the season ends.
Postecoglou has done some great work at Tottenham this season and won’t want his debut campaign to end on a slump.
Tottenham will be expected to make changes this summer, especially with Postecoglou admitting that he needs to overhaul the squad.
The end of the season is now in sight and the rumour mill is starting to churn, but one Tottenham target may not be planning on a move to North London.
Alessandro Buongiorno unsure about Tottenham
Fabio Paratici may not have an official role at Tottenham but Spurs remain interested in Serie A talents with Paratici taking on an advisory role.
Sassuolo’s Armand Lauriente has been linked this week and Genoa forward Albert Gudmundsson is thought to be a key target.
Torino defender Alessandro Buongiorno is another name in the mix having enjoyed a strong season in Serie A.
The 24-year-old is a natural left-footer and Tottenham may view him as competition for Micky van de Ven in Postecoglou’s back four.
Reports from Italy in April suggested that Tottenham have opened talks over a £30million move to sign Buongiorno.
There appears to be a problem though; Buongiorno isn’t all that interested.
FC Inter News claim that Buongiorno is not convinced by moves to Tottenham, Newcastle United or Atletico Madrid.
Inter want to sign Buongiorno this summer and staying in Italy is seemingly more appealing than heading abroad.
Buongiorno is also ready to snub Juventus and Napoli, seemingly narrowing down his list of potential suitors.
Tottenham may hope to tempt Buongiorno into a U-turn, but it looks like Destiny Udogie’s Italy international teammate doesn’t fancy joining Spurs this summer.
READ MORE: All seven Ange Postecoglou player exits as Tottenham manager and where they are now
Buongiorno stance may become familiar
Tottenham continue to be linked with potential centre back signings.
On Wednesday, it was all three of Jarrad Branthwaite, Marc Guehi and Jean-Clair Todibo being linked.
Those three would cost hefty fees but Tottenham are also believed to be keen on two free agents – Tosin Adarabioyo and Lloyd Kelly.
Those two targets make sense budget-wise as Tottenham paying up for another centre back – inside a year of signing Van de Ven and Radu Dragusin – just doesn’t seem likely.
The problem is that defenders like Buongiorno, who are looking to make the next step in their careers, may not fancy the move to Tottenham.
Van de Ven and Cristian Romero are clearly the first-choice centre back pairing at Tottenham and any defender coming in would likely be signed as competition.
Just look at Dragusin; he was a talented Serie A defender who made the move from Genoa to Tottenham in January.
The Romanian has only started one Premier League game though, and even that only came because Van de Ven was injured.
Buongiorno will certainly have paid attention to Dragusin’s lack of game time and the prospect of sitting on the bench may not appeal to him.
This could become a familiar stance for Tottenham this summer and many centre back targets may be reluctant to come in as third or possibly even fourth choice at Spurs.
Postecoglou may want to add another centre back options but the strength of Tottenham’s current options means convincing potential targets to sign could be tricky.
READ MORE: Tottenham Hotspur’s 10 most expensive transfer signings of all time including £63m flop