Levy and Pochettino must ignore Real Madrid’s new transfer warning and continue pursuing Mateo Kovacic

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Tottenham Hotspur allegedly failed with a summer move for Mateo Kovacic.

Real Madrid chief executive Jose Angel Sanchez has told Sportske Novosti in Croatia that the club won’t sell Mateo Kovacic – but did have an offer from Tottenham Hotspur.

Having excelled for Inter Milan following a 2013 move from Dinamo Zagreb in his native Croatia, Kovacic earned a big-money move to Real in 2015, but he has had to cope with being a bit-part player.

The playmaker has mostly been behind the likes of Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Isco during his time with Real, and given his huge talent, other clubs have been keen to land him.

Real Madrid chief executive Jose Angel Sanchez revealed to Sportske Novosti that Tottenham attempted to sign Kovacic over the summer, but Real will ‘never’ sell him, and will reject offers in January.

“Kovacic is not for sale, we will never sell him,” said Sanchez. “If there are any offers for him in January, we will reject them. Last summer there were a lot of offers and questions about him.

“Juventus and AC Milan didn’t send offers, but Inter must have sent one. There was one from England, it was Tottenham,” he added.

Whilst Sanchez’s warning seems fairly clear, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and manager Mauricio Pochettino shouldn’t back away, and should ignore Real’s hands-off warning.

Tottenham need to find a midfielder who can carry the ball through midfield, given that Mousa Dembele is approaching 31 and starting to suffer more injury problems, and Kovacic fits that bill perfectly.

Whilst Real may want to keep hold of Kovacic, he has struggled for regular playing time, and with fellow midfielders Dani Ceballas and Marco Asensio also vying for minutes in the coming years, Kovacic may want a more prominent role elsewhere.

Tottenham should maintain their interest in Kovacic in case Real’s stance weakens, as he would be the ideal addition to replace Dembele in the Spurs midfield – but Levy may have to dig deep if Spurs do want to launch a future bid.