Former DoF had planned to sign Spurs defender this summer | OneFootball

A recent report out the Italian media has suggested that former Spurs director of football, Fabio Paratici, was ready to try and sign a Spurs defender this summer if he was to join AC Milan as their director of football.

In recent weeks, Paratici has been seriously linked with a move to the Italian giants, but the move has stalled. It remains to be seen whether or not he will join Milan, but the fact it has taken this long certainly means there is a fair chance at this point that it will not happen.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), Paratici had already began to map out a summer rebuild at Milan. The 52-year old was preparing to rebuild with a core of Italian players at the San Siro.

One player on his radar was Destiny Udogie, whom he brought to Spurs from Udinese in the summer of 2022 (with the player remaining on loan for another season). As per the report, he was interested in bringing him to Milan as a replacement for the potentially outgoing Theo Hernandez, who could end his six year stint at the club this summer.

Former Spurs director planned to bring Destiny Udogie back to Italy

It is safe to say that Udogie divides opinion within the Spurs fanbase - like most players. Since his injury earlier on this season, he has not been quite the same player. The current consensus is that Spence and Porro is the best full back pairing at the moment. Things change quickly - and not that long ago people wanted Udogie in the side over Porro.

So, things could change again - but it has not been the best few months of Udogie. He is undoubtedly a good player though, you don't turn bad overnight. Football is not as simple as that, and it never has been.

It is easy to forget that he had no pre-season, after his surgery at the end of last season. Despite that, he still had a good start to the campaign, before the injury he suffered. That is not to say he was perfect every game, but you could see his quality.

What is also worth mentioning is that when, as mentioned above, Paratici recruited him - it was with the idea of playing as a high and wide wing back under Antonio Conte, with the player already playing as a wing back at Udinese.

Playing as an inverted left back in a four under Ange Postecoglou could not be much different. In the most part, he has adapted well to this difference in style. He is definitely a player that you would hope Spurs can keep.