Tottenham Hotspur officials have held talks with Juventus director Giovanni Manna over a potential discount for winger Dejan Kulusevski, according to reports out of Italy.
Who could Spurs sign this summer?
It's a new era at Spurs after the departure of Antonio Conte, and after over two months of searching, chairman Daniel Levy finally elected to appoint Ange Postecoglou early last week.
The north Londoners can now give their full focus to the summer transfer market with Levy and co reportedly setting their sights on a number of key targets for different areas of the squad.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could well depart N17 after over a decade at Spurs, meaning they're actively sourcing his replacement, with Brentford's David Raya and AC Milan's Mike Maignan apparently on the radar.
Leicester City star James Maddison is also a firm transfer target for the Lilywhites, while Postecoglou has reportedly given the green-light for his side to sign a centre-back.
However, amidst all of these plans, Spurs still haven't officially signed Kulusevski from Juventus on a permanent deal yet.
The Sweden international signed on an 18-month loan-to-buy deal in January 2022, which contains a clause for Spurs to sign him permanently for around £26 million in total.
According to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport (via juventusnews24.com), Juve director Manna met with Spurs officials on a recent mission to England – where they held talks over Kulusevski's future.
During these talks, Tottenham apparently made it clear that they're not willing to pay the £26m clause in his deal, instead hoping for a discounted price.
They apparently know Kulusevski didn't get on well at Juve under Massimiliano Allegri, something which could put them in a better position to negotiate a lower fee.
Who is Dejan Kulusevski?
Despite enduring a more difficult 2022/2023 season, the forward has displayed some true class at points during his Spurs career.
During the second half of 21/22, under the tutelage of Conte, Kulusevski contributed with some electric performances as Tottenham sealed Champions League qualification that season – scoring five goals and racking up eight assists from February onwards.
Former Italy international Antonio Cassano, speaking to Bobo TV (via TUTTOmercatoWEB), heaped praise on the 23-year-old's form at that time.
"Dejan is sensational between plays, assists and goals. Conte then manages to squeeze his players by making them perform at their best. He always did it, last year at Inter and today at Spurs."
Kulusevski has already displayed his true quality in a Spurs shirt and we believe £26m would actually be a fair price to play.