Tottenham must pip Villa to Milan defender Fikayo Tomori – View

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly overtaken Aston Villa in the race to sign AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori, according to Gianluca Dimarzio.

Spurs need defensive reinforcement. The already brittle defence has been without centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero for a chunk of the season.

To make matters worse, Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin picked up an injury during their Europa League win over IF Elfsborg, adding to Ange Postecoglou’s woes.

Spurs need to bring in new defenders before the close of the winter transfer window on Monday, and their radar has landed them on the former Chelsea centre-back Tomori.

In our opinion, Spurs should be doing everything to snap up the 27-year-old, whether on a loan or permanent deal. They must get him ahead of Villa.

Since joining Milan from Chelsea, Tomori has established himself as one of the best defenders in the Italian top flight, helping the club win the Serie A title and the Super Cup.

This season, he struggled to convince coach Paulo Fonseca, who was eventually dismissed and has begun to find his groove under new boss Sergio Conceicao. However, inexplicably, Milan are ready to sanction a loan for Tomori, and Spurs should be all over him.

Tomori is not the most imposing but uses his speed to great effect, arriving quickly to snuff out the danger.

Impressively, his reading of the game has improved tremendously in the notoriously tactical Italian top flight. He is also very safe with the ball.

Tomori also comes with a European pedigree, having reached the semi-final of the Champions League with Milan and Premier League experience with Chelsea, making 17 league appearances for the Blues.

He was a mainstay under Frank Lampard at Derby County and Chelsea, with the manager hailing him for several excellent performances, including an “outstanding” outing against Lille in the Champions League.

Tomori is a wise move that Spurs won’t regret. Tottenham need to try hashing out a loan deal that turns permanent based on appearances for the club over the next six months to gauge the England international defender (with five caps) before splurging the cash for his services.