Spurs, man City interested in £16.83m LaLiga winger


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TMW report that Tottenham Hotspur are interested in27-year-old (28 in November) Sevilla winger (although he can play in a variety of different positions)Víctor Machín Pérez, more commonly known simply as Vitolo.

The Spanish international (he has 10 caps and 4 goals) is said to be the subject of interest from four other clubs apart from ourselves, Barcelona FC, Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, and AS Roma. Monchi was the sporting director at Sevilla who brought him to the Andalucian club in 2013 and is a huge fan. He has since moved to the same role at Italian side Roma, hence their interest.

Other reports such as the one in Mundo Deportivo s suggest Manchester City and Atletico Madrid have made inquiries.

Vitolo has a deal until 2020 having signed a new contract in August and the club are thought to want at least £16.83 million (€20m - AUS$29.55m - US$21.77m) for him. He has 4 goals and 5 assists in 28 LaLiga games.

His release clause (common in Spanish football contracts) is said to be £33.663 million (€40m - AUS$59.10m - US$43.54m)

He admits to being flattered by Barcelona interest and feels that while Spanish teams are technically better, British teams have power. He was a big fan of former Tottenham player Vinny Samways who spent several season in Spain, first with Las Palmas from 1996 to 2002 and then for Sevilla from 2002 until 2003.

Vitolo grew up in Las Palmas and spoke to the Guardian about watching him as a youth player.

“Samways was on the pitch, I was in the stands. I’d sit with the under-12s, eating sunflower seeds, and the players would celebrate goals with us. I remember waiting for autographs too: I don’t think I got Samways’s, but I had Turu Flores’s.  
"The things you never forget. I talk to [former Deportivo La Coruña midfielder] Lionel Scaloni, who coaches here, and he says: ‘Yeah, but Vinny was a bit crazy, eh! Great player but crazy.’  
"I remember going to games with my dad and my friends and he’d lose his temper with everyone, or reading in the paper that he’d had a fight with Oktay [Derelioglu] at training.”

Despite the fact he has won three UEFA Europa League titles and therefore has UEFA Champions League football experience, his age would look to rule him out of a move to Spurs, certainly at the figure quoted.