Nicolo Barella was linked with a move to Liverpool at the beginning of the transfer window, but fresh reports suggest Tottenham Spurs are set to rival the Reds’ interest.

 That’s according to Il Messaggero who believe Antonio Conte is looking to reunite with the Italian this summer.

Inter Milan are said to want £76.5m for the midfield sensation.

The pair had a fruitful relationship with each other at Inter Milan, guiding the Serie A outfit to their first Scudetto in over a decade.

And after already raiding his former club for the signing of Ivan Perisic, it would appear Conte would like to snatch another player from Inter’s grasp.

Barella excelled under Antonio Conte operating on the right-hand side of a midfield three.

How he’d fit in at Spurs is thus not particularly clear.

So far at Tottenham, Conte has deployed a different variation of his 5 at the back system, playing 2 midfielders and 3 attackers rather than 3 midfielders and 2 attackers.

And Barella is significantly better suited to operating within a midfield three rather than within a double pivot.

Spurs’ interest in Barella perhaps suggests Conte would be interested in deploying the 5-3-2 he used in Milan in north London too.

With Heung-Min Son alongside Harry Kane, Antonio Conte would be able to form arguably the Premier League’s best strike partnership.

But Liverpool might have something to say if Spurs really do attempt to formalise their interest in Nicolo Barella.

Liverpool’s midfield has lacked goals and assists for a while and signing Barella would go a long way towards nullifying that issue for the Reds.

The issue though for Liverpool is that it would be an either/or situation regarding Barella and Jude Bellingham.

Liverpool hope to sign Bellingham next summer when he becomes available for transfer, and he would likely come in to operate in the right-central-midfield position Barella performs in so strongly.

Liverpool don’t need both Barella and Bellingham. And it would appear Bellingham sits top of Liverpool’s midfield wish list some way above Barella.