Exclusive: Tottenham paving way for blockbuster Skriniar deal by selling three senior stars

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28 Sep 2020, 11:30 am

Tottenham are to pave the way for a blockbuster Milan Skriniar deal by selling three of their senior stars, Football Insider understands.

Spurs are working on the late-window capture of the Inter Milan centre-back but do not currently have the funds to pay him for him with a week of the window remaining.

A Tottenham source has told Football Insider that Jose Mourinho has been told the club will need to raise cash by offloading first-team squad members before they can complete the signing of Skriniar.

The three most likely to go are full-back pair Danny Rose and Serge Aurier, and back-up centre-back Juan Foyth.

Rose has been frozen out of the first-team squad this season and has been given the green light to leave if he can find a club.

Aurier has rejected a move to Spartak Moscow despite losing his starting place to summer signing Matt Doherty while Foyth is way down the defender pecking order.

Deals will need to be place for the trio before the board will finalise a deal with Inter for Skriniar.

Spurs are readying a £30million offer for the 25-year-old after being given encouragement by their Italian counterparts they will sell.

Inter want a straight-cash deal and have knocked back various part-exchange options and alternative formulas, including a loan-to-buy.

This site revealed last Friday that Spurs had been told that Inter were prepared to drastically reduce their initial £55m asking price for the defender.

Skriniar was omitted from Antonio Conte's side for their first league match of the season on Saturday, a 4-3 win over Fiorentina.

Inter fielded a three-man defence made up of Alessandro Bastoni, Danilo D'Ambrosio and former Man City man Aleksandar Kolarov.

Conte revealed an "important bid" for Skriniar could be enough to tempt Inter into a sale.

The Slovakia international has been a mainstay of the Italian side since joining in 2017, making 128 appearances in all competitions.

It has been reported in Italy that Inter are already discussing potential replacements for Skriniar, including Schalke's Ozan Kabak.

In other news, the door has opened for Tottenham to sign Premier League forward loved by Pochettino after Mourinho calls "every day".

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