Tottenham have reportedly moved ahead of Manchester City in the race to seal the transfer of Bologna midfielder Mattias Svanberg.
The highly-rated young Sweden international looks a terrific prospect after catching the eye in Serie A in recent times, with a host of top Italian teams also vying for his signature.
According to iNews, Spurs now look to be in the strongest position to sign Svanberg due to the connections of the likes of Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici to Serie A.
However, they could also face competition from the likes of Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atalanta in the bid to complete a deal for the in-form 22-year-old.
There has also previously been interest from their Premier League rivals Manchester City, but it may be that their pursuit is now less strong than it was.
Tottenham seem confident that they can make Svanberg the first signing of the Conte era, in what could be a huge boost for the club in the second half of the season.
It remains to be seen if THFC will have other plans for January, but this certainly looks like a promising start for the north London outfit after a difficult first half of the 2021/22 campaign.
Conte recently replaced Nuno Espirito Santo as manager and looks to have improved things a bit, but there’s clearly room for further improvement in terms of playing personnel, with the former Chelsea and Inter boss likely to be keen to put his own stamp on this side.