Levy time: Tottenham prepared to wait until end of window to land top summer target – reports
By Harry Sykes
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is prepared to wait until the last day of the summer transfer window if necessary to land Everton’s Ross Barkley, according to a report.
The Mirror claim that the fee that Everton want and the wages the 23-year-old is demanding are both too high.
And that’s going to lead to a fascinating “game of brinksmanship”, with Levy willing to play a game of chicken with Everton manager Ronald Koeman.
This comes despite the Mirror reporting that Everton have dropped their price for the England midfielder to £35million.
The saga over Barkley has been going on since before the end of last season, with Koeman delivering an ultimatum to his wantaway star.
He was offered a take-it-or-leave-it £120k-a-week contract to stay, but Barkley refused to sign it and Koeman has taken the player out of his long-term Goodison plans.
The Mirror report that Arsenal and Chelsea have shown interest as well, but the player’s future is still to be decided just a week away from the new Premier League starting.
The Express reported in July that Barkley was Pochettino’s top summer target, but it appears Levy is still not ready to show his hand.
Football Insider verdict:
Ross Barkley can’t be happy – either that his long-term future hasn’t been sorted out yet, just a week before the season starts, or that the notoriously tight Levy is his main suitor. If no-one else comes in for the England international, it means it’s highly likely that his future won’t be sorted out until the end of August. That also opens up the possibility of a late deal falling through and Barkley having to try to patch things up with Ronald Koeman. It’s never wise to burn bridges in football and after the past few months it’s really hard to see Koeman letting him back in the Everton first team. For Barkley’s sake you have to hope that Levy is merely holding out for the best possible price. Something Spurs fans must be getting a bit tired of.
In other Tottenham transfer news, Spurs could be set on making this Championship teenager their first summer recruit, but they face competition from Manchester United and Everton.
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