Report: Tottenham are now willing to pay £10m upfront to land 'unbelievable' player, expect deal to get done

By Sam Preston

Tottenham are currently willing to pay £10 million upfront to sign Djed Spence from Middlesbrough this summer.

The Telegraph report that the total cost of any deal for the England Under 21 international could reach £20 million.

But Spurs are currently looking to pay half of that upfront and then spread the rest of the cost out across later payments.

Tottenham have been uncharacteristically snappy in the transfer market this summer, getting two deals done already.

Tottenham willing to pay £10 million upfront for Spence

Ivan Perisic and Fraser Forster were free agents, while the deal for Yves Bissouma has been simplified by his dwindling contract situation at Brighton.

But Spence is a man in demand and a deal could be harder to structure, with other clubs keen on his signature now that the window is open.

That could be a real test for Daniel Levy and his new approach in terms of trying to get deals done earlier for Antonio Conte.

Do Spurs fold and pay more upfront, or stick to their guns and try to map out a deal which works as well as possible for them financially, no matter how long it takes?

Levy has previously delayed getting players in before the start of pre-season to save the club some money in the marketplace.

That has essentially been putting the club’s financial needs ahead of what the manager would ideally prefer.

There are signs that is changing but that will be tested further by the chase for ‘unbelievable’ Spence, who looks certain to leave Boro this summer.

The report says Spurs do expect the deal to get done, which indicates that Levy’s approach should work in the end.