Tottenham board plotting swoop for £50m ace likened to Sadio Mane – Sky journalist

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Tottenham Hotspur have got the ball rolling with regards to transfer activity this summer.

With a new manager in place, Spurs now have a bit more clarity as they look to strengthen their ranks.

James Maddison and David Raya are two names that have been doing the rounds on the Tottenham rumour mill.

Harvey Barnes, Maddison’s Leicester City teammate, is apparently also on the Spurs radar.

Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has now provided an update on Tottenham’s interest in the Foxes duo.

“Leicester still want to demand a high fee for James Maddison,” he told Sky Sports News, via the Sky Sports website.

“Even though they’ve been relegated to the Championship.

“Buying clubs may realised that Leicester need to now sell – particularly as Maddison only has one year left on his contract.

“It’s clear that he’s not going to be playing in the Championship with Leicester and there’s plenty of interest, not least from Newcastle and Tottenham.

“With regards to Spurs, there are internal discussions over whether they want to formalise that interest in Maddison and his teammate Harvey Barnes.

“Club sources tell us that no formal bids as yet have been made. Our information is that definitely there is interest.”

‘Becoming more direct’

The Tottenham board – and Ange Postecoglou – have a lot of work to do to get the Spurs squad up to speed.

Last season was really disappointing, especially considering how much optimism there was at the start.

Tottenham started out as potential dark horses for the title, and went on to finish eighth and trophyless.

Now, with the no-nonsense Postecoglou in charge, things will hopefully change.

And with so many of Tottenham’s rivals going all-out in the market, Spurs can’t not do the same.

Luckily, the relegated sides boast numerous amazing players, not least Leicester with Maddison and Barnes.

Spurs may well be getting their own Sadio Mane in Barnes.

There have been comparisons between the £50million-rated Englishman and the Bayern Munich and Senegal ace in the past.

The Athletic wrote in March: “Barnes’ game is evolving and he is becoming more direct.

“Manager (Brendan) Rodgers has been working with the player to help him make better runs off the ball.

“To use the inside channel, as he did so effectively against Brentford.

“And as Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah did so dangerously for Liverpool until the former’s departure to Bayern Munich last summer.

“And it has been a feature of Barnes’ game this season.”