Inter confirm Milan Skriniar meeting with Tottenham as Antonio Conte admits club may have to sell

George Flood26 September 2020

Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio has confirmed that the club did hold a meeting with Tottenham over Milan Skriniar.

Slovakian centre-back Skriniar has been heavily linked with Spurs over recent weeks as Jose Mourinho looks to strengthen his defensive options amid a hectic start to the season in north London.

Standard Sport understands that both Skriniar and Benfica's Ruben Dias are targets for Tottenham, but that swap deals are more likely before October's transfer deadline with the club still needing to sell the likes of Danny Rose and Juan Foyth before dipping into the market again following the signings of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Joe Hart, Matt Doherty, Sergio Reguilon and Gareth Bale.

However, it appears that they may have to move onto other targets, with Dias - who hinted strongly at an imminent exit from Benfica on Saturday night - expected to join Manchester City and Ausilio insisting that Skriniar is not for sale after Inter allowed experienced defender Diego Godin to join Serie A rivals Cagliari on a permanent deal earlier this week.

“I will not confirm any negotiations for Skriniar,” Ausilio - who also ruled out a move for Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante - told DAZN.

Inter Milan centre-back Milan Skriniar is among Tottenham's defensive transfer targets
Getty Images

“There was a meeting with Tottenham, that is true, but we simply reiterated that Skriniar is not on the transfer market.

"We’ve already released Diego Godin from the defence and cannot think of losing Skriniar too.”

However, speaking after his side's thrilling 4-3 Serie A win over Fiorentina on Saturday night, Inter boss Antonio Conte suggested that the club may have to seriously consider any forthcoming bids for Skriniar.

"Skriniar to Tottenham? He's part of our project here at Inter," he told Sky Sport, per Fabrizio Romano.

"But I don't know if an important bid will arrive in the coming days... it's possible that the club will consider it because of the financial situation".

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