With Atalanta seemingly pricing Tottenham out of the market in their attempts to keep hold of Cristian Romero, the north Londoners have apparently switched their focus to Chris Smalling, putting them on a collision course with their old manager, Jose Mourinho.
Smalling has been a solid addition to the Giallorossi back line, and it’s difficult to believe that the Special One would be happy to dispense with his services, let alone to the club that sacked him unceremoniously towards the back end of last season.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo is believed to retain a good relationship with his fellow Portuguese, and so a switch back to the Premier League for Smalling may not be out of the question.
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With it believed that Nuno wishes to operate with the same three centre-back system that he employed at Wolverhampton Wanderers, he needs to get some bodies in quickly after the recent sales of Toby Alderweireld and Juan Foyth.
According to Enrico Camellio, Smalling is one such signing that is now being prioritised.
“The Romero interest has cooled down,” he said on Calciomercato TV, cited by the Daily Express.
“It seems to me that there is an interest in Smalling.”