Tottenham Hotspur Blog News - (THBN)

Tottenham Transfer Talk

I see there are still plenty of Twitter not aware of the situation at Spurs and what is happening so I'll give another roundup.

Sorry for those of you who are already aware of most of this, but I have picked up quite a few more readers who will not have read the back posts.

There are further articles at the end of this one under the THBN Articles - Further Reading section or under Popular Posts in the righthand sidebar of the Tottenham Hotspur Blog News (THBN) website. If you are reading this on another website just Google THBN.

Christian Eriksen.

The Christian Eriksen to Real Madrid deal is not dead, nor is the Dani Ceballos loan as part of it.

Real Madrid and ourselves disagree over price and we disagree over a loan deal for Ceballos. We want the choice whether to buy him or not next summer, Real Madrid wants the decision whether to sell him or not, something we will not accept.

Zidane has other targets and only see Eriksen as a squad player so it depends how they get on with their other targets before possibly coming back for Eriksen.

The Dane understands the situation and has tried to put pressure on the club to let him leave. We want £80 million (€89.03m - $99.86m) for him.

We will still be trying to get 25-year-old (26 in August) striker Mariano Diaz in any deal.

Giovani Lo Celso

This is all agreed. I don't care what you are reading in the press, this deal has been agreed since before the Copa America and nothing has changed. Real Betis need a replacement and they have secured Nabil Fakir from Lyon I believe but we'll have to wait and see.

He has put in a transfer request, or his agent has, as he is on holiday after the Copa America and gets back next week.

This deal is going to happen, regardless of the Eriksen situation.

You all know the fee €68m (£61.11m - $76.30m) plus add-ons.

Ryan Sessegnon

This deal is all agreed as well and will happen. We have reopened discussions with Fulham who want a player on loan. I have heard Victor Wanyama mentioned but can't see him wanting to drop down to the Championship and Georges-Kevin N'Koudou, which sounds more likely.

Fulham wanted Oliver Skipp but he is a part of our first team and we don't want to send him to the Championship. He should get more game time with us this season and be developed much in the same way Harry Winks was developed.

Marcus Edwards

See my earlier post. A bust-up, still has the wrong mentality, goodbye Marcus.
Marcus Edwards fell out with Pochettino

Danny Rose

He is not committed to Spurs. PSG have been sniffing and his head is elsewhere. Both Everton and Schalke have been monitoring his situation. Again, he had a disagreement with Pochettino and has been left out of the pre-season tour as a result, as you now know, to find a new club.

He was offered a one-year extension to his current deal which only has two years left. He hasn't signed it.

For a full explanation (although it does not include details of the disagreement) of why it is common sense to sell Danny Rose, read another previous post.
Danny Rose - The Explanation

I have posted this before (a month or so I think but I haven't hunted back to find it) and forget about it in the explanation, but Danny Rose has fitness issues. We don't want another Wanyama on our hands.

Victor Wanyama

There is interest in him and we want him shifted. He, like Lamela, has only given us one good season and has spent the last two seasons injured and recovering from injuries.

He has an ongoing knee condition that has to be managed.

We won't get a lot for him, therefore, but he didn't cost a lot either. With Oliver Skipp coming through and Tanguy Ndombélé signed, Wanyama is not in Pochettino's long term plans.

The club are hopeful they can sell him. West Ham have asked about him and the two clubs have started talks.

Georges-Kevin N'Koudou

I don't know how true this is, but I have heard that N'Koudou is going to Fulham in the deal that brings Ryan Sessegnon to Tottenham. It would reduce the fee we have to pay by about £3m (€3.34m - $3.74m) and give them a young player with the potential to develop.

That could be good business for them if they can get him performing with regular football again.

That will do for now, a brief update with news old and new and snippets not in the press, who only know what they are told.

Marcus Edwards had a bust-up with Mauricio Pochettino

Those of you who were hoping Marcus Edwards would get his chance at Spurs will be disappointed, as I revealed 5 days ago, that he isn't training with Spurs and is seeking a move.

The plan was to give him an opportunity on the pre-season tour to show what he can do and show the right attitude.

I have talked before that he has the wrong attitude, that he feels entitled and if you remember the interview he gave, he didn't take total responsibility for his situation but blamed others.

That suggested to me, again as I wrote at the time that he had not sorted out his mentality yet and so it has proved. He has had his meeting with Pochettino and, let's just say it didn't go well. 

The result was Edwards being disciplined, not being able to train with the first team and looking for another club. That club is either Brentford or Ipswich at the moment. As you probably know now, he is training with Brentford in an effort to secure a deal, although he isn't going on their pre-season tour.

Pochettino does not have disruptive influences on the training ground, any such individual is removed quickly and shipped out the club.

My guess and this is just a guess, is that Poch asked him to show him he is worth a place on the training field and that Edwards still feels he is entitled and talented so doesn't have to prove anything to anyone.

Many of our fans believe a player must play to show what he can do, but a coach sees players every day and you are employed to train. He has to prove on the training pitch that you are worth a place in the team and when you do get picked, it is up to you to then show why you shouldn't be dropped.

It seems to me that Mr Attitude isn't prepared to do that and isn't prepared to wait for a chance. He still has a lot of growing up and maturing to do.

Kieran Trippier moving to Spain

Everyone, it seems, wants a new right-back, well, the toxic section of our fans certainly do, but to buy a right-back, we first needed to sell Trippier and finalise the Christian Eriksen situation so we know where we are financially.

Trippier is joining Atlético Madrid, subject to a medical. Diego Simeone is one of the best defensive managers in the world and is building a potent strikeforce this season that he wants to be supplied. Trippier will be a key figure in that supply with his crossing ability that the geniuses amongst our fanbase don't think he possesses.

Juventus, Napoli tried to sign him, Bayern Munich were tracking him and he joined the second club in Madrid. That tells you the value Trippier possesses.

The deal I hear is €30m (£27.08m - $33.66m) including add-ons.

It is a great move for him and if you look at where he was prepared to go, Italy or a club renown for their defence, it is clear he wants to improve defensively and win his England place back again.

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Further articles with snippets you won't find in the newspapers or before you see it is them, read the THBN Articles - Further Reading section below this article. Popular Posts can be found in the righthand sidebar.
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Spurs have committed funds to one transfer and have money allocated for Giovani Lo Celso from Real Betis and the Sessegnon twins from Fulham. That outlay totals £146.45 million (€162.22m - $182.25m) so it is pretty obvious we need to have some income.

The fringe players are only going to raise around £45 million (€49.85m - $56.00m) and perhaps the same for Eriksen if we get Ceballos included, maybe less if we get Mariano included as well. That looks unlikely though.

Pre-season will determine whether we sign a stop-gap right-back if we feel Walker-Peters or Foyth need development time or if we still see Foyth as a regular centre-back.

Our budget for a right-back will be no more than £40m (€44.31m - $49.77m) and there are a number of people we are interested in.

I informed you all a week before the media that Max Aarons had signed a new contract at Norwich City and that we would not be signing him. If we were to be interested in him then it would be next summer if Norwich gets relegated or if he has a storming season in the Premier League.

He would surely be too much now. Events didn't all fall into place at the right time, as is often the case

Remember Ryan Sessegnon didn't have a great season and we are buying him for £25 million (€27.69m - $31.10m) plus £5m (€5.54m - $6.22m) for his brother, who will return to Fulham on loan and is a right-back himself.

That's the verbal agreement we came to and we began discussions again on Tuesday to make that deal happen. He suffered a hamstring injury during the European Under-21 Championships so hasn't been able to train thus there has been no rush. Everyone knows where he is going and where he wants to go.

I believe Fulham want a player on loan, who though I don't know.

The Leicester City full-back Ricardo Pereira is a Portuguese international (5 caps) who is probably going to be too rich for our pockets this window. He is 25-years-old (26 in September) and is under contract until 2023.

Another right-back on our list is 27-year-old (28 in August) Southampton man Cédric Soares. It is likely he will be leaving Saints this summer and is being tracked by PSG, Monaco, and Arsenal. All of those clubs have enquired about him.

He is another Portuguese international, he has 33 caps (1 goal) and is under contract only until 2020. Southampton have a policy of selling players who have 2 years left on their contracts if they haven't signed a new one so they don't run a contract down and lose transfer value.

Love it or hate it, it is a part of football.

A stop-gap option while Kyle Walker-Peters or Juan Foyth develop is 29-year-old (30 next April) Hiroki Sakai.

The Japanese international (56 full caps, 1 goal) and Marseille right-back can also cover the left side.

Sakai has a contract until 2021 so wouldn't be a huge expense. He has played 91 Ligue 1 games scoring 1 goal and having 9 assists. Prior to that, he played for Hannover in the German Bundesliga.

It is worth remembering that Steve Hitchen, our chief scout is considered to be an expert in French football. We have actually signed a young striker from a Ligue 2 side who will be in our development system this season.

Tottenham have a problem because this is Jan Vertonghen's last season at the club, the club already know he wants to end his career at Ajax. Toby Alderweireld has a year left on his contract and Christian Eriksen also has a year left.

If those three players leave with no income for them then how much do you think it would cost to replace them?

At £50 million (€55.38m - $62.22m) each, that would be £150 million (€166.15m - $186.65m). That is a huge expenditure and prevents any other transfer business to strengthen the squad without sales.

If we can get £25m (€27.69m - $31.10m) for Alderweireld this summer and buy a centre-back, that partially negate a potential problem, as does the sale of Christian Eriksen this summer, especially if we get one or two players coming in, unless he signs the new 4-year deal offered to him.

Remember if we loan Ceballos as part of the deal, then we are committing ourselves to an expenditure of around £40 million (€44.31m - $49.77m) next summer should we decide to take up the purchase option we want in the deal.

However, Real Madrid doesn't want to let us have the option, they want to keep the option whether to sell to us or not. That deal could happen even if Eriksen stays but it is on hold until Madrid change their stance, if they do.

That would push next summers spending to around £190 million (€210.50m - $236.39m) and players we are happy to let go, Erik Lamela and Eric Dier will perhaps drop in value with another year gone off their contracts.

I have wandered somewhat off topic of right-backs so I'll finish by giving my view and that is that we will not sign a replacement. I think Foyth will develop into a first choice and we also have Eric Dier who has played there before, but then we could play Foyth in a back three.

Danny Rose not going on Spurs pre-season tour

Twitter is full of people moaning who have never run a football club in their lives but know how to do it.

They are masters in the transfer market and are on the ball over contract extensions, club evolvement and fully appreciate aging players with limited time left need replacing.

So what is happening with Danny Rose?

Well, I'll fill you in on some background, but as I revealed yesterday before all the press cottoned on today, he isn't going on the pre-season tour and that can only be to arrange a transfer because he isn't injured, he has been training.

Tottenham Transfer Talk including Danny Rose

Rose has been offered a one-year extension to his current deal. He has two years remaining on that deal so is at the point where we want him to sign an extension or leave.

With two years left a player has value, with one year left he has little value, generally, perhaps half the value he had a year previous.

You can not run a business where every player is allowed to run down his contract to a year and then you have to spend big money to replace them when you are not getting big money in. You have to operate on a more sensible footing than that, hence the two years being an important point.

I suspect Danny Rose wants a longer contract, but he id at the age where clubs what younger players as he doesn't have enough years left in the game to serve them and for them to get a transfer fee for him.

He is a 29-year-old (30 next July). Our contract offer would take him until he is 32.

Rose has had mental issues at Tottenham that have been well documented so a change of scenery may appeal, I don't know.

His best friend in football is Fabian Delph and he has just joined Everton. Everton are interested in Danny Rose and Tottenham are interested in Everton left-back Lucas Digne.

The 25-year-old (26 in 3 days time) has already visited Hotspur Way to ave a look around the facilities. He came down early June so is clearly open to a move.

Will we see a deal with players moving in opposite directions? I guess that will depend on what Danny Rose decides to do and Pochettino's plans for Ryan Sessegnon.

Playing for Tottenham is pressure, we have a fanbasr=e who seem to hate our players and failure to stay in the top four is not an option. That brings mental pressure and that isn't a subject we need to discuss with Rose so open about mental issues and racism abuse.

Victor Wanyama
He has a degenerating knee condition so isn't a player to hang on to.

The 28-year-old (29 next June) reportedly wants to stay and has a contract until 2021.

Who is going to pay him £65,000-a-week (€71,966 - $80,633)?

Mousa Dembélé
Has left Spurs and was on £80,000-a-week (€88,573 - $99,240).

Georges-Kevin N'Koudou

His agent, Meissa Ndiaye, revealed that finances didn't work as the reason for a previous move not leaving. His contract runs out in 2021. He is earning £35,000-a-week (€38,751 - $43,418).

Michel Vorm
He has left and was on £40,000-a-week (€44,287- $49,620).

Wages Spurs would like to free up this summer

Michel Vorm £40,000

Good afternoon folks and I thought I'd give you an update as there are some false stories doing the rounds. The update has grown somewhat and now consists of 12 players.

Before we get into it, you can read further or fuller stories from a Tottenham perspective under THBN Articles - Further Reading below this article or Popular Posts on the Tottenham Hotspur Blog News righthand sidebar.

Right, now straight into Tottenham Transfer Talk and the roundup.

Dani Ceballos

Tottenham and Real Madrid HAVE NOT agreed on a loan deal for Dani Ceballos. Spurs WILL NOT take Ceballos on loan without it being our decision whether we buy him or not next summer.

That is non-negotiable. There is no way we are simply going to improve a player and increase his transfer value for the benefit of another club, especially as that would mean there would be more interest in him from the very biggest clubs and we wouldn't get our hands on him.

The stories yesterday are all completely false so don't be taken in by them.

Tottenham and Real Madrid are not even currently discussing him and Real Madrid won't budge either. That deal is dead unless they change their position.

Nicolò Zaniolo

Nicolò Zaniolo is not our first choice so we are not going to rush into any deal with him. Roma wants Alderweireld and as Zaniolo wants out we'll see where this one goes.

Giovani Lo Celso

Giovani Lo Celso is in the second week of his holidays after the Copa America so he should all be tied up for the tie against Inter Milan. Real Betis need to secure a replacement.

As I keep saying, clubs like to have a replacement lined up before they release a player, thus you get no official confirmations a deal is done or announcements. The deal was all agreed BEFORE he went to the Copa America and Lo Celso has informed Betis he wishes to join Tottenham.

There have been no changes and all reports of negotiations are rubbish. The deal is agreed at the fee I have listed two or three times now.

Kieran Trippier

Kieran Trippier we are helping out the door and being as accommodating as we can be to assist him moving.

Yes, one of the best defensive managers in the world, Diego Simeone at Atlético Madrid, has asked about him for a second time and we have said go ahead, he is available.

This has been under negotiation for at least a week now.

Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports has suggested Tottenham have been offered Ángel Correa, this is because of a story in Spain from Diario AS suggesting Tottenham, Wolves are chasing the 24-year-old (25 next March) Argentinian striker.

Spurs are not chasing him and he is not a part of the negotiations. Thirty goals in 4 years and under contract until 2024 would make him too much for what he is, plus we have Troy Parrott coming through. In addition, we want to recoup some of the money we are spending this window.

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Ángel

Trippier will not be on the pre-season tour, where Kyle Walker-Peters will get his chance to stake a claim as reported a few weeks ago. Trippier will remain to arrange a move or to finalise details of a move to Atlético, which I hear is all but done.

It also means that Juan Foyth will also be covering the right-back berth as he has impressed for Spurs and Argentina there.

Christian Eriksen

At the same time, Atlético has asked about Christian Eriksen. Our position remains the same, the price is £80 million (88.59m - $99.38m).

We have offered him a new 4-year deal and we want him to sign it. He is waiting to see what offers come in for him before deciding what to do, but the vibes aren't good. 

Better to get £80 million for him now than lose him for free next summer and have to spend another £80 million to replace him, especially when we might have two centre-backs to replace.

William Saliba

William Saliba wanted assurances over game time that Pochettino was not prepared to give him so we walked away from the deal as reported earlier.

Troy Parrott

Keep an eye on Troy Parrott on the pre-season tour because he is making an impression in training, even though it has only recently started and as I wrote a while back, he will get his chance on tour to impress. If he does then we may not buy a back-up striker, we will develop him instead.

Danny Rose

Danny Rose is training and he has been offered a 3-year deal (an extra year onto his existing deal) which he also looks unlikely to sign. Is that because we have signed Ben Davies and expect to have Ryan Sessegnon coming in thus putting extra pressure on his place?

At 29-years-old (30 next July) he is no spring chicken anymore and he will not be travelling with the squad on pre-season tour either.

Both Everton and PSG are interested in him.

Some of you are going to question why this is and I explained it all in an earlier post but for those who missed it, I'll briefly summarise.

Clubs do not want players with less than 2 years on a contract. With 2 years left they have value, with one year left, that value is drastically reduced, in the case of Alderweireld, clubs believe he is worth half his release fee now.

Any player with 2 years left on their contract, who will not sign a contract extension is available for sale. We have three players who now have a year on their contract, two centre-backs and Christian Eriksen.

How much will it cost to replace all three next summer?

You need income from transfers. Football is a business, not a game. The business pays for the game so the business has to be run properly. Buy low, sell high. Don't let your assets and footballers are assets, depreciate.

You keep their value by tying them to contract extensions each season, that's why we have so many contract signings.

There are two left-backs we are interested in, 25-year-old (26 on July 20th) French international Lucas Digne, who is under contract at Everton until 2023 and 26-year-old (27 in August) Argentinian international Nicolás Tagliafico, under contract at Ajax until 2022.

Not forgetting 19-year-old (20 next May) Ryan Sessegnon from Fulham, who is fully expected to arrive once he recovers from his hamstring injury.

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Youngsters

Reminders for those of you who have missed previous posts, Marcus Edwards is not training, he is looking for another club, same with Josh Onomah, same with Cameron Carter-Vickers and here is the post listing all the youngsters who are going on the Asia pre-season tour to Singapore and Shanghai.

14 July - Isco, Eric Dier and youngsters going on pre-season tour

Toby Alderweireld

Another reminder for those who have not read the post. After having a meeting with Daniel Levy and Mauricio Pochettino where Toby Alderweireld told them he will not be signing another contract, his contract offer was removed.

If he stays, as is likely, he will not be a guaranteed first-choice player (nor will Eriksen if he is in the last year of his contract too) and would leave for nothing.

Finally our deadwood, nobody as yet wants to buy them and wages are certainly an issue with them.

Gareth Bake will not be returning to Spurs

Tottenham Transfer Talk

I posted earlier this window about Gareth Bale. We seriously looked at a 2-year loan deal, we seriously looked at a loan plus purchase and a purchase option, but it simply isn't financially viable.

Marca are reporting that Tottenham have proposed a €60 million (£54m - $67.57m) deal and that Real Madrid pays half his wages.

My sources tell me there is nothing in this story. It should be noted and indeed Spurs fans will remember that Marca are the mouthpiece for Real Madrid. They are owned by Unidad Editorial and are based in Spain covering mainly Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, and Rayo Vallecano. 

 print what Real Madrid tell them to print and use the paper to create stories our press pick up to help unsettle a player like they did with Modric and Bale.

Financially it is very complicated with Gareth Bale who is looking to have the rest of his salary paid by Real Madrid before he will leave. Some of his commercial deals are tied to him being at Real Madrid and he would lose that income were he to move.

Real Madrid are refusing to pay the remaining wages on his contract so they have a stand-off. Bale won't be going anywhere until that is resolved.

For those non-regular readers, his wages for the remaining three years of his contract amount to £51 million (€56.58m - $63.82m) but I see Marca are reporting it as £17 million (€18.89m - $21.27m) a season.

Real Madrid need to raise money for further rebuilding, they want another Galacticos team and buy a new one each summer

I can tell you that PSG are willing to pay close to his existing wages, as far as I am aware, they are the only club willing to do so, but not pay the remaining wages of his existing contract and a transfer fee.

No club is going to shell out over £100 million (€111.14m - $125.14m) for him at his age, with his injury record. and loss of form.

I say no club, he is adored in Asia and he has a contract offer from an unnamed Chinese club doubling his existing salary to £1.2 million-a-week (€1.33m - $1.5m). 

We would like him back at Spurs, of that there is no doubt and he is open to returning to us, but financially it isn't possible until Real Madrid move their position.

Real Madrid wants to raise €200 million (£179.99m - $225.21m) at least from player sales, not spend £50 million (€55.56m - $62.56m) getting rid of one.

Spurs Pull Out Of Saliba Deal

"The transfer window in England ends on August 8th so yes there will probably be something that will happen."

He doesn't say which club he will be joining but I can confirm that Saint-Étienne has accepted the Tottenham bid for the 18-year-old (19 next March.

However, I can tell you it isn't Spurs. Mauricio Pochettino had a talk with Saliba and after the conversation, Pochettino told Levy not to pursue a deal for the player.

Whether he expressed a preference for game time at Arsenal I don't know, whether he wasn't prepared to be developed, whether he wants to be a first choice now rather than one of four or whether he doesn't have the winning mentality we need, I don't know.

All I can tell you is that Spurs are not pursuing a deal.

Fedor Chalov is being watched by Spurs

Clubs are watching 21-year-old (22 in April) CSKA Moscow striker Fedor Chalov who has 2 full international caps for Russia.

That in press terms means there is a race!

Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Everton, West Ham United, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Sevilla and Arsenal are all said to be tracking him and they all probably are, but it really does sound like an agent trying to drum up interest by leaking a story to the press.

West Ham United turned down the chance to sign him for £25 million (€27.79m - $31.43m), they have worked with his management company before and the Mirror reports his value as £20m (€22.23m - $25.14m)

Chovin is the youngest winner of the Russian Golden Boot since Oleg Blokhin in 1973 after scoring 15 Premier Liga goals in 27 starts and 3 substitute appearances. He also had 7 assists and can play as a second striker.

The Russian also scored 2 Champions League goals in 6 games, one against Viktoria Pilzen and one against Real Madrid, both away from home.

He is comfortable on either foot and is a composed finisher. He likes to dink the ball over the keeper and is quite lethal inside the box.

The striker has athleticism and mobility and he caught our eye when our lads played in the UEFA Youth League, which matches the Champions League groups each season but for U-19 players.

Chalov scored a goal against Arsenal in April 2018 in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League and was the youngest player to score against them in a European tie in nine years.

He is just one of a number of players we are following but there isn't serious interest at the moment.

Tottenham are stepping up interest in Nicolò Zaniolo

Tottenham Transfer Talk from Tottenham Hotspur Blog News (THBN)this morning centers on our increasing interest in Roma midfielder Nicolò Zaniolo.

Before we get into that, this story is linked to our pursuit of Dani Ceballos and you can find out why that deal is on hold here:
Ceballos Stalemate So Spurs Turn To Italy

Further THBN Articles can be found below this article.

Daniel Levy met with Franco Baldini on Friday where their offer for Toby Alderweireld was rejected.

The Italians wanted to sign him for less than half his release clause fee and were prepared to go to €15m (£13.47m - $16.93m) I believe.

Tottenham value 20-year-old (21 next July) Nicolò Zaniolo at €50m (£44.89m - $56.44m) and have offered cash plus Toby Alderweireld, who has agreed in principle to a move to Roma.

The deal offered is €27m (£24.24m - $30.48m) plus Alderweireld which would value him at €23m (£20.65m - $25.96m).

There is also Moussa Sissoko. As I revealed, Roma are interested in Moussa Sissoko who is 30 in August and a deal involving both players may be of interest, although Sissoko isn't a player Spurs have on their accept offers for list.

There is more at play here and players are better than cash for Roma. Why?

Because Inter Milan hold a 15% clause on any profit from a future sale of Zaniolo.He joined Roma from Inter last summer for €4.5m (£4.04m - $5.08m).

Inter want Roma striker Edin Dzeko, but only want to pay €12m (£10.77m - $13.54m) whereas Roma want €20m (£17.95m - $22.56m). There is a suggestion that Inter will offer to give up their 15% stake in Zaniolo, which takes the pressure off Roma to push for a higher price for him, perhaps making our negotiation easier and cheaper.

It's a complicated world transfers and there are factors outside of the deal you are negotiating that can affect it, as you see.

Zaniolo's first choice is Juventus but they can't seem to secure a deal, nor can they give him any assurances over playing time and how important he will be to the team.

They have thus far offered 26-year-old Italian goalkeeper Mattia Perin, 24-year-old Italian centre-back Daniele Rugani, and 31-year-old Colombian winger Juan Guillermo Cuadrado.

Their latest offer is 31-year-old Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuaín, but some reports suggest the former Napoli striker will turn down all offers as he has no intention of leaving Juventus.

The suggestion in Italy is that Roma will now turn to Tottenham and do a deal.

Mauricio Pochettino can point to a smaller squad and perhaps less competition for places to assure Zaniolo of his importance to the team, which not guaranteeing selection.

With Giovani Lo Celso coming in and Zaniolo, it would certainly put pressure on Eriksen to sign the new 4-year deal he has been offered. It would also put pressure on the likes of Erik Lamela to produce the goods. He wants to stay at the club but the club are happy to sell him, for the right price.

Zaniolo has agreed personal terms with Spurs €5million-a-year (£4.49m - $5.64m) contract plus bonuses. That equates to €96.154-a-week (£86,267 - $108,405) wages.

We asked in April about him and we spoke to Roma again in May, now we have spoken again in July. Without Champions League football next season, it seems he isn't going to sign a contract extension and is agitating for a move.

Who will Spurs end up with Dani Ceballos or Nicolò Zaniolo?

News of this interest obviously puts pressure on Real Madrid who are keen to ship Ceballos out and he will be wanting Champions League football surely.

Will this news unlock the Ceballos stalemate and revive that deal, will this deal come to fruition or will Spurs have to turn their attention to Sporting midfielder Bruno Fernandes?