‘Need to sell’: Director hands Tottenham and Newcastle a boost with reported £20m target

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Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United target Eberechi Eze could be sold this summer according to Queens Park Rangers director Les Ferdinand, who tells talkSPORT that a dose of realism is required.

With QPR sitting seven points adrift of the play-off places, it looks for all the world that Mark Warburton’s side will be consigned to yet another season of second-tier football.

As a result, any hopes the Londoners had of keeping Eze at Loftus Road appear to have gone up in smoke.

A supremely talented playmaker who can send even the most experience defender for a hotdog with a shimmy and a swerve, the England U21 international has been linked with two of Ferdinand’s former employers of late.

The Chronicle reported in May that a Newcastle side lacking the kind of creativity and cutting edge that only players like Eze can bring are interested.

So too are Tottenham.

The Sun claims that Spurs scout Brian Carey watched the one-time Arsenal starlet put in a performance of dazzling quality during a March victory over Preston.

“I’ve always been honest with this. We are a club who, in this moment in time, are going to need to sell one of our assets to keep us going in the direction we want to go,” Ferdinand told Laura Woods and Darren Bent (24 June, 9.40am).

“We know that at some stage (Eze will go). He’s been fantastic and there are lots of clubs looking at him.

“The only hope is that, if we do sell him, we sell him for the right price. We’re realistic, we’re going to have players who are going catch the eye and some stage a big club is going to come for them.”

Eze has a £20 million price-tag on his head, according to The Sun.

Crystal Palace and Sheffield United might have deemed such a fee too expensive but it remains to be seen whether Tottenham will pay the fee QPR are after.

In an era of unprecedented financial uncertainty, and with a new stadium to pay for, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is unlikely to hand Jose Mourinho the kind of transfer treasure chest he is used to.