U-turn as attacker jets in to complete Tottenham transfer - report

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Published on:

12 Aug 2016, 9:07 am

By Tom Blackburn

Marseille striker Georges-Kévin N’Koudou has arrived in London to complete a transfer to Tottenham, according to a report.

Italian football website Calcio Mercato claim that Marseille manager Franck Passi said that the striker is in England to sign for Spurs after the stumbling blocks to the deal had been "solved".

It is said that the French club and Spurs have found agreement over the payment methods of the £12million deal.

This comes after French publication L'Equipe claimed Spurs have made the fresh proposal to renegotiate the capture of a player manager Mauricio Pochettino is keen to sign.

Nkoudou had originally appeared set to complete his protracted transfer to White Hart Lane this week after the Cameroon forward Njie received a work permit to move the other way to France on a season-long loan.

The Guardian then claimed on Tuesday the plug could be pulled on the swap deal because Marseille were unhappy with the new structure of the payments being proposed by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy after he previously agreed to pay the majority of the fee up front.

Levy attempted to renegotiate the offer for Nkoudou, who completed his medical almost three weeks ago and has been in London ever since.

The Guardian reported that a new offer comprising an initial £4.2million that could eventually reach £11million is said to have fallen way short of Marseille’s valuation.

Spurs are still working on the deal for a player who Sky Sports claimed on their website Mauricio Pochettino and his staff regard as a potential star of the future.

N'Koudou, 21, joined Marseille from Nantes during last summer and the winger proved to be one of the signings of the Ligue 1 campaign, scoring 10 goals and providing 5 assists in 41 matches in all competitions.

N’Koudou’s exploits were all the more impressive due to the fact that he was playing for a struggling Marseille side.

N'Jie, who has struggled to break into the Spur side after suffering injuries and mixed form since joining from Lyon last summer, was pictured in training at Tottenham's Enfield headquarters on Tuesday.

In other Tottenham transfer news, Pochettino will listen to offers for seven senior players in the final weeks of the summer window.

Tottenham Hotspur

Georges-Kévin N’Koudou