Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa are reportedly in the race to sign Paris Saint-Germain defender Milan Skriniar, according to L'Equipe.
The experienced Skriniar is set to leave the Parc des Princes this winter amid a miserable spell in the French capital. The Slovakian centre-back joined the Parisians as a free agent in the summer of 2023 after leaving Inter Milan.
The 29-year-old has found game time hard to come by and dealt with several fitness issues. He's made just five appearances this season, amounting to 381 minutes worth of action.
Skriniar vented his frustrations with his situation last October. He admitted he was 'definitely not happy' and that all he could do was focus on trying to impress enough in training for more first-team minutes.
Luis Enrique hasn't been convinced by the 77-cap Slovakia captain, and his last outing was a 3-0 win against Toulouse in late November. He's gone from being a leader at Inter for Simone Inzaghi to the outskirts of the first team in Paris.
Tottenham and Villa Make Approach For Skriniar
The Slovakian Is Also Liked In Turkiye
Tottenham and Aston Villa are reportedly keen on Skriniar, but face competition from Turkish giants Galatasaray and Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce. It's said that the latter are ready to pay €15 million (£12.7 million), and a move to Turkiye could be persuasive because he'll likely be handed guaranteed game time.
Spurs look to be showing a 'strong desire' to sign the player amid the injury problems Ange Postecoglou is dealing with in North London. Defensive duo Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero are both sidelined, and versatile youngster Archie Gray has been used as a makeshift centre-back. His purported £324,000-per-week salary might be somewhat off-putting given his lack of game time.
The Villans are searching the market for defensive reinforcements amid Pau Torres' injury. The Spaniard is sidelined with a broken metatarsal and isn't expected back until late March at the earliest. A new right-back is also desired, with Celta Vigo's Oscar Mingueza and Almeria's Marc Pubill being eyed. Diego Carlos could be sold to Fenerbahce, which will only further heighten the need for a new centre-back.
PSG are believed to desire a deal to at least be a loan with an easy-to-exercise purchase option. The decision will be left up to Skrniar over where he wants to move, but he'll almost certainly want to call time on his PSG nightmare.
All statistics courtesy of SofaScore - correct as of 17/01/2025.