Tottenham have tabled a bid of £18million for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Adrien Silva, according to Jornal de Noticas.
The Portugese newspaper has reported in its printed edition on Monday (page 53) that the Premier League giants have made a big push to land the central midfielder, 28, this summer.
Jornal de Noticas claim that the opening offer of 20million Euros (£17.6m) from the Londoners has been rejected but they are prepared to return to the negotiating table with a second bid in the coming weeks.
It is said that Sporting have lapped an asking price of £26million on the midfield creator, who has 17 Portugal caps and was a member of their Euro 2016 winning side.
Silva has previously stated his ambition to play in a different country, and has named the Premier League as an ideal destination.
The Sporting academy product has claimed he has a verbal agreement with the club’s president Bruno de Carvalho that he can leave if the right offer is tabled.
Silva was one of the Portugese club’s top performers in the recently completed domestic season, scoring six goals and providing four assists in 36 appearances in all competitions.
It is an impressive haul for a relatively deep-lying player and demonstrates his development since breaking into the first time at Sporting in January 2008.
Silva has since played 232 league and cup games for Sporting which have yielded 38 goals and 19 assists.