He would not however confirm if a deal was near completion.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou at Marseille
Marseille manager Franck Passi has confirmed that Tottenham Hotspur target Georges-Kevin N’Koudou will not play in the club’s Ligue 1 opener v Toulouse this weekend. The reason why, he is indeed still in London trying to seal a move to Spurs.
The Marseille boss confirmed what had been rumoured in the press for some time now, that N’Koudou is currently staying in London amid the long-term negotiations to snap him up from Marseille.
Passi, as reported by Le 10 Sport, confirmed this in his pre-match press conference today.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou at Marseille
However, he stopped short of saying a deal was set to be completed. He is quoted by Le10 as as stating:
“It’s something I’m not busy with from the start so I can not tell you anything. If GK (Georges-Kevin) shows up at our door, we’ll be happy, if it’s not him it will be another.
“I know he’s in England but do not ask me. I will not tell you that story I do not know.”
Marseille boss Franck Passi
If he did complete a deal it would bring an end to a protracted transfer saga.
Le Phoceen reported that Tottenham’s original offer was to buy N’Koudou for a fee in the region of €13 million (£11.1 million) – a fee Marseille were happy with.
That price dropped after Daniel Levy decided Spurs should be paying less for a player who had basically no pre-season – especially with Clinton N’Jie heading in the other direction.
Then, yesterday (11/08/2016), L’Equipe were reporting, that Spurs and Marseille are continuing talks for the French under-21 international – with a new proposal on the table.
They claim Spurs are now happy to sign the player on loan with a €13 million (£11.2 million) buy-out clause included.
With N’Koudou still in London, it would appear the deal is not yet dead.
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