Tottenham to hold talks in coming days with Premier League rivals over 24-year-old ace - sources

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Published on:

19 Jun 2016, 3:10 pm

By Editor Wayne Veysey | Former Evening Standard, Press Association and Goal chief correspondent with 17 years experience of breaking big stories, including exclusives like this

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Tottenham and Southampton will hold talks in the coming days over the transfer of Victor Wanyama, Football Insider sources understand.

The two clubs have held discussions about a deal to take the midfield enforcer to White Hart Lane.

Southampton have placed a £12million price tag on Wanyama but Spurs do not want to pay more than £11million for a player with only a year remaining on his contract.

A well-placed Spurs source has told Football Insider that there will be further dialogue between the two clubs this week in a bid to thrash out an agreement.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino is increasingly hopeful he has successfully landed his former player after Tottenham's failed bid to bring Wanyama to White Hart Lane last summer.

Southampton are currently managerless after losing Ronald Koeman to Everton this week and are ready to admit defeat in their bid to keep the player now he has entered the final 12 months of his contract.

Wanyama had been offered a lucrative new five-year deal by Southampton, but he refused to sign and the club have moved to cash in on the player instead of losing him on a free next summer.

The Kenya international is set to become the first Southampton player snapped up directly from his former club by ex-Saints boss Pochettino.

Wanyama has had an excellent season, making 35 appearances for the team that finished sixth in the Premier League.

Spurs were thought to face a fight on their hands to secure Wanyama's services with Southampton harbouring grudges from previous transfer encounters.

This stems from Tottenham signing Toby Alderweireld from Atletico Madrid last summer when Southampton believed they already had a deal in place to sign the Belgium international.

However, those tensions have now been lifted with Wanyama set to be Tottenham's first major signing of the summer.

In other Tottenham transfer news, the club are closing in on two deals costing £42million in total.

Tottenham Hotspur

Victor Wanyama