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Tottenham, Newcastle failed to sign classy midfielder, who was ‘a man of his word’

Inter Milan star Marcelo Brozovic turned down transfers to Newcastle and Tottenham recently to pledge his allegiance to the Nerazzurri, reports a well-informed source.

Both Premier League clubs were looking to spend in January and both did exactly that. Spurs drafted in Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur – both of whom have hit the ground running at Spurs. While the Geordies landed Brazil midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.

Brozovic, 29, was set to be out of contract on June 30. And the Croatia international was mentioned as a target for a number of lcubs.

Manchester United, Liverpool and French giants PSG were all believed to be interested in the 70-cap star. But last month the player ended all the speculation by penning a new contract until June 2026.

That killed any hope of a transfer for the classy midfielder and ended the hopes of Newcastle and Spurs.

New Spurs boss Antonio Conte was keen on Brozovic, but the star wanted to stay in Milan.

More recently two other Inter stars, Lautaro Martinez and Alessandro Bastoni, have been linked with Tottenham.

And reporter Fabrizio Biasin was asked about the prospect of the pair signing for Conte. He told Telelombardia, via FC Inter 1908: “I don’t know, but I can say that they tried for Brozovic.

“Tottenham made an attempt, but Brozovic, a man of his word, said he wanted to stay and he did it by signing the renewal.

 

No word on Martinez, Bastoni

“He had Newcastle, Barcelona and Tottenham, and he stayed. Barcelona had offered him €8m per season.”

Argentine Martinez was a target for Spurs last summer. Fears about the future of Harry Kane caused them to draw up contingency plans. Ultimately, Kane stayed, but for how long? And it has now emerged that Martinez is back in contention for a transfer to join Conte.

Gianluca Di Marzio has names La Liga outfit Atletico Madrid as rival suitors for the 24-year-old.

Meanwhile Bastoni has been tipped to arrive at Spurs to give Conte the left-footed centre-half he craves.

That’s according to Calciomercato, who suggest Fabio Paratici will be active in the Italian market this summer.

Biasin though could not shed any light on news on Bastoni or Martinez.

READ MORE: Arsenal ready to make €20m move to beat Tottenham to winger target with 21 goal contributions

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