Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly kept a close eye on Atalanta defender Giorgio Scalvini, after Micky van de Ven's recent injury.
Van de Ven will be out until the new year after sustaining a serious hamstring injury against Chelsea at the start of the month.
The Dutchman's absence is made even worse by the fact that Eric Dier is said to be keen on a move away from the club in January, stretching Ange Postecoglou's defensive options to the limit.
Dier featured alongside Ben Davies in the centre of defence for Spurs as they lost in dramatic fashion away to Wolverhampton Wanderers shortly before the international break.
A suspension for Cristian Romero means that they were the only two senior options available to Postecoglou, and with the future of Dier uncertain, a move for a defender in January is possible.
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Therefore, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims that Spurs are one of a number of clubs monitoring Scalvini, who is regular at Atalanta, despite being just 19 years of age.
The central defender was 17 when he first appeared in La Dea's first team, and he has been a mainstay in the side ever since.
Spurs could have potentially moved for Scalvini instead of Van de Ven during the summer transfer window, but were priced out of a move for the youngster by Atalanta, according to Romano.
"I heard, last summer, Tottenham were considering a move, he was one of the secret players that they had in the list, but they decided to go for something different because Atalanta were asking crazy money for Scalvini." Romano revealed on KICK.
Atalanta's demands are unsurprising given how quickly the 19-year-old has taken to top-flight, European and International football already.
Scalvini has become a regular in the Italian national team setup recently too, despite his tender age, but he missed this week's internationals through injury.
That means that he may already have a good relationship with Spurs duo Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie, who were all a part of Luciano Spalletti's squad last month.
However, like Scalvini, both Vicario and Udogie were absent this month, as Italy sealed their place at Euro 2024, with minor issues, but all three will be in contention for spots in the squad next summer.
Andrew Delaney
