With Cristian Romero now at no risk of leaving Tottenham Hotspur this summer after Atletico Madrid fully backed off their approaches, the reality is that Spurs shouldn't feel desperate to sign another center back.
In fact, if Radu Dragusin ends up staying, they would be four-deep with a quartet of center backs who have shown that they are legitimate starters at a high level in a top-five European league. Even Dragusin was one of Serie A's best at Genoa before landing in North London, while fellow backup Kevin Danso was even better in France for surprise side Lens before his Tottenham move.
Tottenham, though, are still scrounging around for center backs and looking at a cadre of underrated options, particularly those in Serie A, which has been a league rife with talent for Spurs to pluck for relatively cheap prices.
However, the latest center back name linked to Tottenham is actually in the Premier League, and he's both a former teammate of current Spurs star Micky van de Ven and a former teammate of their one-time preferred Romero replacement, Marc Guehi.
Tottenham are after Marc Guehi's teammate
Per a report from L'Equipe's Hugues Sionis, Tottenham have been showing an interest in signing Crystal Palace's 25-year-old starting center back Maxence Lacroix, fresh off a strong first season in England and an FA Cup title.
The hard-nosed Frenchman was a top player in the Bundesliga for Wolfsburg and could have made the jump to Tottenham from there, just as Van de Ven did in 2023. Now, Lacroix probably won't come cheap, if Palace's quoted prices for other Tottenham transfer targets like Guehi, Eberechi Eze, and, most recently, 100 million pound-rated defensive midfielder Adam Wharton are anything to go by.
Lacroix is a booking threat, but when the young man's head is on straight, he is a phenomenal player and a great partner for the more cool-headed Guehi. He had a strong introduction to the English Premiership with 1.9 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, and 5.8 clearances per game to go with just 0.4 dribbles completed allowed.
On the ball, Lacroix can struggle a bit, but that's why Tottenham have three elite ball-playing center backs in Romero, Van de Ven, and Danso. So if Tottenham are looking to replace Dragusin as the fourth-choice center back, Lacroix could be a similar player with more athleticism and a more established track record of success in the Premier League.
The issue? It's just hard to see Palace selling him for the price of a fourth-choice center back; he's a little too good for that. But "too good" is a much better problem to have than "not good at all", which was part of Spurs not-so-distant past in the recruiting department.