Report shares Levy stance on Tottenham pursuit of 23-yr-old after £100,000-a-wk offer snubbed
By Harry Sykes
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has no intention of his club overstretching to sign Ross Barkley in the next month, according to a report.
The Sun claim Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is “desperate” to sign Barkley, 23, from Everton before the early September cut-off.
It is said that Levy is “hell bent” in not overspending in a transfer market that he has claimed is unsustainable due to the vast amounts spent by the likes of Manchester City this year.
The Sun report that Barkley has rejected a £100,000-a-week contract offer from Everton but Spurs would not be willing to pay him more than that, given a wage structure in which that is more than what top earners Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris earn.
The Merseysiders are also looking for at least £35million for a player who has entered the final 12 months of his contract.
Pochettino has insisted Spurs will bring in new recruits over the last month following a quiet window to date in which they are the only Premier League side not to make a signing.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman signalled the end of Barkley’s career at the club last week when he revealed the player has told him he wants to quit during the current window.
Football Insider verdict:
Pochettino is renowned for his coaching work on the training ground and ability to coax the maximum from young and developing players. Like a peak Arsene Wenger, he makes stars rather than buys them. His vision to develop Barkley into a central midfielder could just be a masterstroke. The 23-year-old has been fitful in a No10 role and certainly would not be able to edge out Dele Alli from that position. But he has the technical and physical skills to thrive in a deeper role and could make the same adjustment that Mousa Dembele did in his mid-20s.
In other Tottenham transfer news, Spurs are firmly in the driving seat to sign a creative spark for a bargain price and Pochettino wants the deal done.
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