Tottenham are set to abandon their pursuit of Porto right-back Ricardo Pereira despite selling Kyle Walker to Manchester City, according to the Telegraph.
The newspaper claim that the London giants are “looking at alternatives” to the Portugal international, 23, as their bid to take him to White Hart Lane now appears dead in the water.
The Telegraph report that Spurs’ firm interest in first-choice Pereira has been complicated by a row over who officially represents him.
This comes after the Evening Standard reported this week that Porto were confident Tottenham would pay the full £22million asking price needed to secure the signing of Pereira.
At that point the deal to sign the player recommended by the club’s recruitment chief Steve Hitchen, an expert in French football, was seemingly close.
The defender has spent the last two seasons on loan at French side Nice and was a mainstay of the team that challenged for the Ligue 1 title last season before eventually securing a third place finish.
Renowned for his bursts up the right flank, Pereira made 30 appearances across all competitions during the campaign, scoring twice and setting up his team mates with four assists.
Tottenham sold Walker for a world-record defender fee of £54million on Friday, although City have insisted that the initial fee is £45million, with the rest made up of add-ons.
It leave Kieran Trippier as the senior right-back at Spurs after he made a big impression in the final months of last season, when he was frequently selected ahead of Walker.