Spurs‘ hunt for a new centre-back took another twist last night as a bid was reportedly accepted by Sevilla for French defender Jules Kounde, and a deal to take Davinson Sanchez the other way also on the cards.
The fee is reportedly £25-30 million plus the Colombian defender, which sounds like a stroke of genius from new Sporting Director Fabio Paratici.
🚨 BREAKING: Tottenham have reached an agreement with Sevilla for Jules Koundé. Spurs offered £30m + Davinson Sanchez. The player will now evaluate joining Spurs. [Di Marzio] pic.twitter.com/A4KviNj7rK
— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) July 13, 2021
However, unfortunately for us fans, Kounde is unconvinced by Spurs and he has so far turned down any approaches the club has made to get him to pen his signature on a long-term contract in North London.
He is supposedly only interested in moving to a team in the Champions League, and after the team’s struggles last season and problems on and off the pitch, Spurs no-longer looks an attractive project as it did two seasons ago.
There’s still the same feeling around Jules Koundé and Tottenham since one week. No optimism – Sevilla are open to sell Koundé for an important bid and relationship with Spurs is great, but deal not progressing. ⚪️ #THFC
Jules Koundé prefers to wait, as of today. https://t.co/setuyAp7fD
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 14, 2021
The deal may not be completely off the table, though, with one of Paratici’s best qualities being his salesman-like ability to persuade effectively and establish a good relationship – and if Spurs are really desperate for Kounde, expect him to be on the first flight out to Spain to try and encourage him to get on a plane to North London.
Should the French 22-year-old be completely out of reach and a deal happening is 100% impossible, the club are then likely to target long-term target and Slovakian superstar Milan Skriniar.
🗞[@TuttoMercatoWeb] | Tottenham Hotspur are on 'the attack' to finally land the signing of centre-back Milan Skriniar.
Spurs have sent an offer to Inter for Skriniar and are hopeful of securing the defender during the summer transfer window.#THFC #COYSpic.twitter.com/Tq4mwCJrjP
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) July 14, 2021
Spurs have wanted the Inter Milan defender for a while, but he is seemingly a lot more settled their after his important role in their Serie A title win last season, as opposed to last summer where he was unsettled and ready to move to North London – with just Daniel Levy’s reluctance to meet the Italian club’s valuation the only stumbling block.
There is also a list of backup targets for the centre-back position in case Paratici doesn’t have his wish come true, including Lyon’s Joachim Andersen, Southampton’s Jannik Vestergaard and Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic – with all three likely to cost less than Skriniar or Kounde.
🚨BREAKING | Tottenham Hotspur have now reached an agreement in principle with Bologna for central defender Takehiro Tomiyasu. | [@CorSPORT]
⚪️The fee is in the region of €20M with only final bonuses left to be concluded as part of the transfer.#THFC #COYS pic.twitter.com/0nIYBFE2rp
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) July 13, 2021
Meanwhile, the deal to put Takehiro Tomiyasu in a Tottenham shirt for the foreseeable future is almost done, and will cost the club around £18 million.