Tottenham: Arsenal compete for French forward; three departures imminent

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The back pages are fairly quiet for reports of new arrivals at White Hart Lane yet again, following Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 friendly defeat to Juventus yesterday.

A youthful-looking Spurs side conceded twice in 15 minutes as the Italian champions raced to a 2-0 lead, before a second-half strike from Erik Lamela pulled one back for the North Londoners. Mauricio Pochettino’s men are currently on a pre-season tour of Australia and the Argentine does not appear to be in any rush to add to the signings of Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen just yet.

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However, if reports are to be believed, then Arsenal have now joined the race for long-time Spurs target Wissam Ben Yedder.

The forward, who scored 17 goals in 35 games for Toulouse in Ligue 1 last season, has been linked with a move to White Hart Lane as far back as January, but Spurs were not thought to be in the market for another striker following the arrival of Janssen earlier this month.

An over-reliance on Harry Kane may have cost Spurs the league title last season, and supporters were adamant that despite their admiration for the academy graduate, striking reinforcements were needed this summer in order to help shoulder the burden of goals. Those needs appeared to have been met when Janssen signed from AZ Alkmaar, so if the reports that Pochettino is chasing another forward are true, then it is surely a misallocation of resources at this particular moment in time.

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Meanwhile, Spurs seem to be in no rush to push players out of the exit door either. After the club announced earlier this week that Alex Pritchard, Nabil Bentaleb and Federico Fazio were free to leave the club, the Independent are reporting that Daniel Levy has now held up any potential exits by demanding hefty fees for both Bentaleb and Pritchard.

The trio have all been left out of Spurs tour of Australia, and the fact that Pochettino has even come out and stated that they are surplus to requirements must have alerted potential suitors to the possibility of a cut-price deal for whichever player they are interested in.

However, the club are now claiming that it will take £10 million for them to allow Bentaleb to move on and £9 million for Pritchard.

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Such valuations are likely to put off interested parties, and as a result, Levy may well be pricing himself out of selling the trio. Not a man for cutting his losses, the Spurs owner has become renowned for getting the best deal possible when selling a player, but the fact that his manager has come out and admitted that the players are definitely not a part of his plans may count against him this time.

Bentaleb has been linked with a loan-deal to Benfica, which the report claims Spurs are not averse to, as it may lead to an increased market price for the player down the line.

With regard to Pritchard, they are hoping for a permanent sale, but the valuation of £9 million seems excessive for a player that has done nothing above Championship level. Newcastle United, Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers are rumoured to be interested in the 23-year-old, who has excelled in spells at Brentford and Swindon Town, but all are unlikely to be willing to stump up such a fee for the player.

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