Alessandro Bastoni

[Timberwolf]

Great to read an opposing view... I see all the posts of people clamoring for Bastoni ( never seen him play) and I think back to Ndombele and that clamour/ excitement. Then over read on here of defenders like Bremmer and then Ndicka who is apparently French and according to some is also an accomplished defender but att half the price of Bastoni....

Then there's the lad at Crystal Palace who seems suits to the league as well.

Is Bastoni the best left sided centre back in the world right now for us to pay that much? Are there alternatives who'd cost less and deliver the same output perhaps?

Other than Spurs or a big derby in England I don't watch other teams so my knowledge on them is limited.

I don't mean this as an insult, although it's definitely going to sound like one, but your argument sounds like something Daniel Levy would say. It's the attitude that led to us signing the likes of Dempsey, Sissoko and countless other cheap alteratives that our managers never really wanted.

"I know there's this potentially world class CB that our manager has specifically requested and personally knows well from his time at Inter...but what about these other guys who are half the price??? Maybe they could do just a good a job!!"

I don't think any of the alternatives offer the exact combination of qualities that Bastoni does (left footed, good on the ball, excellent passer, good character, decent defender etc.) hence he's the one that we're really pushing for. If Conte really believes he's the guy we need then let's go all out and spend the £55m or whatever it takes to get him.

 

[heinsmit]

Andy Brassell described him on TalkSport earlier as "a prince on the ball"

Almost as eloquent as when Martin Keown called Chiellini "the grandfather of defending".

 

[djhotspur]

Feel the same. Think he's definitely got room for improvement on the defensive side of his game. Possibly increase upper body strength. As someone mentioned before he's passive and a bit soft. Needs to take a leaf out of Cuti's book of hard knocks if he comes.

Agreed. But no one is cuti haha. He is young so he will develop and improve under conte and I’m sure he can learn a lot from Cuti etc.

 

[djhotspur]

I don't mean this as an insult, although it's definitely going to sound like one, but your argument sounds like something Daniel Levy would say. It's the attitude that led to us signing the likes of Dempsey, Sissoko and countless other cheap alteratives that our managers never really wanted.

"I know there's this potentially world class CB that our manager has specifically requested and personally knows well from his time at Inter...but what about these other guys who are half the price??? Maybe they could do just a good a job!!"

I don't think any of the alternatives offer the exact combination of qualities that Bastoni does (left footed, good on the ball, excellent passer, good character, decent defender etc.) hence he's the one that we're really pushing for. If Conte really believes he's the guy we need then let's go all out and spend the £55m or whatever it takes to get him.

Yup, the only one who arguably does offer all that and the aggression is Gvardiol who is more expensive than Bastoni.

I agree with your comments, sometimes you do have to spend big and this is very different from ndombele as conte knows him personally. We are never going to be able to attract the absolute best in the world so bastoni is a very good player.

the other thing is, we aren’t exactly linked to super expensive players in other positions so spending big on bastoni makes sense. Now if we were going big for SMS or Hakimi (if they were plausible) then I could understand going for a cheaper CB alternative.

 

[spursfan77]

Great to read an opposing view... I see all the posts of people clamoring for Bastoni ( never seen him play) and I think back to Ndombele and that clamour/ excitement. Then over read on here of defenders like Bremmer and then Ndicka who is apparently French and according to some is also an accomplished defender but att half the price of Bastoni....

Then there's the lad at Crystal Palace who seems suits to the league as well.

Is Bastoni the best left sided centre back in the world right now for us to pay that much? Are there alternatives who'd cost less and deliver the same output perhaps?

Other than Spurs or a big derby in England I don't watch other teams so my knowledge on them is limited.

It does concern me that we aren’t hearing that others are in for him (like ndombele) but maybe the market for him is a lot smaller (unlike ndombele) and that is the reason?

I think we just have to trust Conte. He has more of a convincing history of spotting a player than Poch and that gives me faith.

 

[Trix]

It does concern me that we aren’t hearing that others are in for him (like ndombele) but maybe the market for him is a lot smaller (unlike ndombele) and that is the reason?

I think we just have to trust Conte. He has more of a convincing history of spotting a player than Poch and that gives me faith.

I think in general the other big European clubs stay away from dealing with the Italian Elite clubs especially for Italian players. As has been said many times they don't tend to leave Italy, and they aren't the easiest deals to do. FP is obviously the difference maker in this regard as far as we are concerned.

 

[wadewill]

I think in general the other big European clubs stay away from dealing with the Italian Elite clubs especially for Italian players. As has been said many times they don't tend to leave Italy, and they aren't the easiest deals to do. FP is obviously the difference maker in this regard as far as we are concerned.

Probably very similar to dealing with the top English clubs for top English players

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I think in general the other big European clubs stay away from dealing with the Italian Elite clubs especially for Italian players. As has been said many times they don't tend to leave Italy, and they aren't the easiest deals to do. FP is obviously the difference maker in this regard as far as we are concerned.

Makes sense when you think about it. Hadn't really considered it before

I'd guess you get the significant majority of star domestic/native players in all the top leagues ie England (certainly the case), Italy (massively the case, on a quick glance), Germany (also very much the case) and Spain (predominantly the case, though less clear with several in England)

 

[Trix]

Probably very similar to dealing with the top English clubs for top English players

Indeed but the difference I think between Italians leaving Italy and English players leaving the Prem is money. The likely hood of a top English player leaving the Prem is unless they go to Madrid they are unlikely to be getting more money. The best Italians leaving Serie A would more than likely see a big salary increase at most clubs that would be in for them.

 

[SambaSpurs]

He seems extremely well suited to the LCB slot in a 3. I’ve only seen him play a few times but a good friend who is an Inter fan has said as much. Supposed to have great creativity and attacking play from the back but his defending could be improved on.

My only worry would be us being somewhat stuck with a player who is found wanting in a back 4, with no Italian team having decent money to take him back. Hopefully Conte stays for a long time, and with us buying specialist players for his formation hopefully the manager after him is more of a continuation, like Inzaghi has been at Inter.

It’s not really a reason not to buy - we should absolutely go for who Conte wants in the here and now, just a slight concern on how successful the transfer will be overall. I just wish there was a left sided Romero clone.

 

[austinfh]

He seems extremely well suited to the LCB slot in a 3. I’ve only seen him play a few times but a good friend who is an Inter fan has said as much. Supposed to have great creativity and attacking play from the back but his defending could be improved on.

My only worry would be us being somewhat stuck with a player who is found wanting in a back 4, with no Italian team having decent money to take him back. Hopefully Conte stays for a long time, and with us buying specialist players for his formation hopefully the manager after him is more of a continuation, like Inzaghi has been at Inter.

It’s not really a reason not to buy - we should absolutely go for who Conte wants in the here and now, just a slight concern on how successful the transfer will be overall. I just wish there was a left sided Romero clone.

It feels like Paratici will be hiring managers who play a 3/5atb whatever happens (although no idea why Nuno ended up playing a 4atb). There were reports we would go after Potter in the event of Conte leaving - the defence would be pretty perfect for his formation and style of play

 

[Ron Burgundy]

My only worry would be us being somewhat stuck with a player who is found wanting in a back 4, with no Italian team having decent money to take him back

This would be my only concern - he seems only suited to a back 3. We have the same with Dier in a sense.

At least Romero can do both (would be my guess).

I guess it's OK, it just leaves with limited flexibility

 

[spursfan77]

I think in general the other big European clubs stay away from dealing with the Italian Elite clubs especially for Italian players. As has been said many times they don't tend to leave Italy, and they aren't the easiest deals to do. FP is obviously the difference maker in this regard as far as we are concerned.

We need to back the manager but signing a young Italian player (and one that apparently issn 100% convinced to come) is something that should concern the club longer term. It is hard to know with Conte how long he will be here for and I suspect that will be in the player's mind too. We can't be scared though, if the manager wants him, we should (and sounds like we are) go all out to get him. Who knows what will happen in 12 months time, if he wants out then, he wants out then, there is little we can do. This is an instance of us doing what Conte has asked for and acting like a big club. Hard for a lot of us to get our heads around, but I think we need to, the manager won't have it any other way.

 

[brasil_spur]

We need to back the manager but signing a young Italian player (and one that apparently issn 100% convinced to come) is something that should concern the club longer term. It is hard to know with Conte how long he will be here for and I suspect that will be in the player's mind too. We can't be scared though, if the manager wants him, we should (and sounds like we are) go all out to get him. Who knows what will happen in 12 months time, if he wants out then, he wants out then, there is little we can do. This is an instance of us doing what Conte has asked for and acting like a big club. Hard for a lot of us to get our heads around, but I think we need to, the manager won't have it any other way.

Agree.

Also Uncle Joe just gave us £150m, the least we can do is to back the manager and take a potential punt on a player and risk at worse losing less than a third of that pot of money. Even if he is a total flop (unlikely) then it still helps us keep Conte happy - and a happy Conte will win us silverware.

 

[ajspurs]

We need to back the manager but signing a young Italian player (and one that apparently issn 100% convinced to come) is something that should concern the club longer term. It is hard to know with Conte how long he will be here for and I suspect that will be in the player's mind too. We can't be scared though, if the manager wants him, we should (and sounds like we are) go all out to get him. Who knows what will happen in 12 months time, if he wants out then, he wants out then, there is little we can do. This is an instance of us doing what Conte has asked for and acting like a big club. Hard for a lot of us to get our heads around, but I think we need to, the manager won't have it any other way.

Yeah I think this is just part of the package with Conte really. We can't fully back him whilst questioning whether the players he wants will suit us when he's gone.

 

[spursfan77]

Agree.

Also Uncle Joe just gave us £150m, the least we can do is to back the manager and take a potential punt on a player and risk at worse losing less than a third of that pot of money. Even if he is a total flop (unlikely) then it still helps us keep Conte happy - and a happy Conte will win us silverware.

Yeah I think this is just part of the package with Conte really. We can't fully back him whilst questioning whether the players he wants will suit us when he's gone.

Yeah I had to be careful to word my post correctly. I want us to back the manager but we still need to be careful. I guess this is where Paratici comes in and is a huge part of his job. If he leaves the squad full of players not suitable for the club both short and longer term then it will be his head on the block if it goes tits up in the future. A hard balancing act for him. At the moment, I would be tempted to go all in on Conte and worry about the future afterwards. None of us are getting any younger and most importantly neither are our current star players!

 

[Trix]

We need to back the manager but signing a young Italian player (and one that apparently issn 100% convinced to come) is something that should concern the club longer term. It is hard to know with Conte how long he will be here for and I suspect that will be in the player's mind too. We can't be scared though, if the manager wants him, we should (and sounds like we are) go all out to get him. Who knows what will happen in 12 months time, if he wants out then, he wants out then, there is little we can do. This is an instance of us doing what Conte has asked for and acting like a big club. Hard for a lot of us to get our heads around, but I think we need to, the manager won't have it any other way.

I sort of get peoples concern regarding Conte staying long term and what that would mean to the players he brings in after he's gone, but as long as they perform well for him whilst he's here they'll at least be easily sellable for good money when he goes(if they want to leave).

The thing with Conte is he's always walked once he feels he's no longer being backed. Keep backing him and he will happily continue to push on and keep winning. My one worry when he arrived was my perception of him that he always wanted the big name very expensive players all the time, a myth I now know to be rubbish. What he wants are players that will improve the side and that he believes he can improve and build with, and the cost is irrelevant to him. Now sometimes you have to pay a lot for that specific player like we are seeing with Bastoni, but that isn't because he's the finished article who will come straight in and be amazing, it's because he has the exact skillset Conte wants and the potential to be fantastic with the right coaching and hard work.

 

[ajspurs]

Yeah I had to be careful to word my post correctly. I want us to back the manager but we still need to be careful. I guess this is where Paratici comes in and is a huge part of his job. If he leaves the squad full of players not suitable for the club both short and longer term then it will be his head on the block if it goes tits up in the future. A hard balancing act for him. At the moment, I would be tempted to go all in on Conte and worry about the future afterwards. None of us are getting any younger and most importantly neither are our current star players!

Yeah don't worry I knew what you were trying to say without coming across like you don't think we should fully back Conte or anything I think it's a fair point, I'm sure there is a limit to just how much we'd tailor our business. Like if all Conte wanted was expensive 29/30 year olds on big wages, of course that could become a larger problem, but from who we've been linked to so far there seems to be a fair balance and not particularly a group of players that we'd need or look to shift if Conte happened to leave.

 

[Scot-Spur]

Still think this gets done! Inter have started doing business and we all know the financial situation. Regards To Ally Gold’s info about wanting 2 CB’s, who would people want as the second? Marc Guehi would be my pick! Young and could be mould into Dier’s role, read he was a good leader aswell.

 

[GeorgeTink]

Hopefully we see some movement towards the end of this week when international duty ends ?