Tottenham Hotspur are reluctant to pay Everton the £50 million they are looking for for Ross Barkley.
Ross Barkley
A report in the Telegraph has suggested that Tottenham plan to bide their time during the summer in their pursuit of Ross Barkley in the hope that they may be able to sign him for less than Everton’s current valuation.
The Telegraph reports that Spurs want Barkley but are reluctant to pay the Toffees the £50 million that they are looking for for their playmaker, and thus, plan to hold fire on any potential bid.
Instead, Tottenham plan to wait and see if Barkley’s asking price drops before they make a move, and they feel that there is a chance that the valuation could fall as the summer goes on if he remains at Goodison Park.
It would certainly be a surprise if Everton were not willing to drop their asking price if they manage to land two of their summer targets in Davy Klaassen and Gylfi Sigurdsson (via Daily Mirror).
Barkley has one year left on his contract, so the Toffees would surely rather see him leave for a smaller fee than the one they are currently holding out for than let his contract expire, leaving them almost empty-handed, especially if they land the two targets and are therefore, a lot less reliant on the playmaker.
Spurs fans would surely question the club’s logic if they went out and spent £50 million on a player who can be inconsistent and would surely be rivalling someone like Dele Alli for a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s team, but they would surely be much happier if they managed to sign him for a significantly lower fee at some stage in the coming months.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
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