Journalist Paul Brown believes Tottenham Hotspur want to sign a centre-half who can play out from the back, with Inter Milan's Stefan De Vrij the player they like most for that role.

With the January transfer window on the horizon, it appears new manager Antonio Conte wants to bring in some of his own players.

What's the latest news involving Stefan De Vrij?

Football Insider recently reported that De Vrij has revealed to friends that he's interested in moving to Tottenham in January, and that he is aware of interest from the north London club.

What Brown did say about Spurs wanting De Vrij?

Brown revealed that Conte wants a defender who can play out from the back and De Vrij fits the bill for the new Tottenham head coach.

Brown told GMS: "But I think the main role Antonio Conte wants is a centre back who can play it out. De Vrij seems to be the one Spurs like most for that role."

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What are Stefan De Vrij's stats?

The 29-year-old has made 413 career appearances combined playing for Feyenoord, Lazio and Inter Milan.

Throughout his career he has scored 24 goals and registered 14 assists, with his best goal scoring return coming during his time with Lazio, where he scored ten goals.

Alongside his club career, De Vrij has also represented the Netherlands from U17 level all the way through to the senior team, and has been capped on 54 occasions for the senior side. 

In terms of playing out from the back, De Vrij boasts a pass completion rate of 90.5% this season and last term under Conte it was even higher at almost 94%.

He also averaged 61.3 passes per match - for reference, no Spurs defender has averaged more than 53.8 in the Premier League so far this season.

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Would De Vrij be a good signing for Tottenham?

It's clear Conte has a specific formation in mind for Tottenham, having used three central defenders in all four of his games in charge so far.

Therefore, the more bodies Spurs have at centre-half, the better.

Although Conte already has a number of options at his disposal - Ben Davies, Japhet Tanganga, Eric Dier, Christian Romero, Davinson Sanchez and Joe Rodon - injuries to two of those players could leave Spurs light when battling in Europe and the Premier League simultaneously.

Likewise, De Vrij is already well-acquainted with Conte's coaching methods and philosophy, which would be a huge asset as the new manager looks to implement change in north London.