Two sticking points have emerged in Tottenham’s bid to sign Argentine rising star Juan Foyth, according to the Times.
The newspaper claim the Premier League club are close to completing a deal for the Estudiantes centre-back for a fee of around £8.5million following talks last week in London with their club president Juan Veron.
But the Times report that Estudiantes have made two demands that could delay the completion of the transfer.
It is said the Argentine club want Foyth to return on a six-month loan before he joins Spurs permanently, and are also keen for a sell-on clause to be inserted as part of the deal.
This would enable them to cash in again at some point in the future were Foyth’s market value to rise during his time at White Hart Lane.
Foyth, who can at centre-back as well as holding midfield, played for Argentina at the Under-20 World Cup won by England earlier this summer and appeared in his team’s 3-0 defeat by England.
There appears to be a growing possibility that he will become Spurs’ first signing of the summer as the club rebuild their squad following the sale of Kyle Walker to Manchester City on Friday for a record-breaking fee for an English player of £54million.
Foyth, who is reported to have already agreed personal terms with Tottenham, was promoted to the Estudiantes first team in January of this year and made his debut for the club in March.
“I know they are negotiating with Tottenham but I tried to stay focused on the game we were going to play,” Foyth is quoted as saying by Diario Hoy.
Spurs fans are starting to fret that they are the only Premier League club yet to sign any players in this summer’s transfer window.
Some will point out that they had a storming finish to last season to finish second and end with a club-record Premier League points tally of 86, while others claim they would be unstoppable if they strengthened from an already robust position.