Tottenham target seals £8m move to Conte’s former club instead

Juventus have completed the £8million signing of Andrea Cambiaso after Tottenham Hotspur reportedly expressed interest in taking the Genoa ace to the Premier League, via the club’s official Serie A website.

For any young Italian defender, being compared to the legendary Paolo Maldini must feel like the footballing equivalent of a budding actor dubbed Jack Nicholson’s second coming.

And while Cambiaso’s agent isn’t the most objective of observers, his glowing praise for the promising full-back reflects what many in Italy think of a player who signed a five-year contract with Juventus on Thursday afternoon.

“To be clear, he’s a Paolo Maldini,” says Giovanni Bia of Cambiaso, who will spend the next term on loan at Bologna.

“He can play on the right or on the left as a full-back or in midfield. He is two-legged and flexible. I think he should be part of the new (Italy team). He has vision and quality. Italy needs players like that.

“We don’t have great full-backs at the moment. For me, he will be one of the national team full-backs for the next ten years.

Juventus sign Andrea Cambiaso from Genoa

With longtime Alex Sandro now on the wrong side of 30 and with Luca Pellegrini potentially on his way to Fulham, Juventus will be hoping Cambiaso has a long future in Turin as well as the Azzuri.

According to Alfredo Pedulla, Antonio Conte’s Tottenham joined the race to sign the 22-year-old a few months ago. AC Milan and Napoli are also admirers. Same with Leicester City and Watford.

Fast forward to mid-July and it looks like Spurs are still on the hunt for a new left-back. The jury remains on Ryan Sessegnon, while Sergio Reguilon is free to leave. Sevilla are keen on the former Real Madrid youngster.

Reguilon is not part of Conte’s squad for the pre-season East Asia tour, alongside Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso.

In other news, Tottenham ‘top of the queue’ for £76m, Reguilon could drive prices down – Our View