DiMarzio: Tottenham lodge €30m bid for Juventus’ Rodrigo Bentancur

Yes! Ha ha ha... YES! New stuff from our good buddy Gianluca DiMarzio this morning that suggests Fabio Paratici and Tottenham Hotspur are returning to the Juventus well again in the waning hours of the transfer window. DiMarzio is now reporting that Spurs have lodged a €30m bid to try and gazump Aston Villa for the signature of Uruguayan DM Rodrigo Bentancur.

I love this move. I really, really do. Bentancur is on the fringes of the Juventus side, but he’s practically perfect for Antonio Conte. He operates as a true defensive midfielder, which would open up Conte’s preferred 3-4-3 system by letting him sit deep (and occasionally drop into the back three) while players like Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg buzz around him and do The Patterns. He’s also a plus passer and works well in the press. We don’t really have a true DM at the club right now in

DiMarzio says that while Villa has reached personal terms with Bentancur, they haven’t agreed terms with Juventus, and makes it sound as though Spurs’ bid is on par with what Villa has offered. The kicker is that it looks like Spurs are offering an outright purchase and not a loan with a purchase option like Villa.

Is Bentancur the world’s best defensive midfielder? Nope. Is he the kind of competent player who can unlock Conte’s preferred tactical system in a way that we have not seen up to this point at Spurs? Absolutely. This is great stuff. I am officially Bentancurious.