Tottenham have opened talks about the transfer of Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic, according to the Daily Star.
The newspaper claim that Spurs are working on a deal to sign the Croatia international, 23, after he “shot to the top of Mauricio Pochettino’s wanted list in the last few days”.
The Daily Star report that Tottenham are convinced that the lure of regular first-team football could tempt Kovacic to swap the Bernabeu for White Hart Lane next season.
It is said that Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane wants the central midfielder to stay and will demand that a buy-back clause is inserted in any contract that took him from the club this summer.
Kovacic, who has 34 international caps, played 2154 minutes spread across 39 matches in all competitions for the Champions League holders last season.
But he did not feature in the starting line-up for the marquee matches and was barely used in Europe’s elite competition as Real stormed to their second consecutive Champions League title.
Tottenham have made a move for Kovacic amid growing doubts about the future of Manchester United target Eric Dier.
It was reported on Friday that chairman Daniel Levy has held extensive talks with his United counterpart about selling Dier this summer despite rejecting one bid.
Kovacic, who joined Real from Inter Milan in the summer of 2015, is a similar player to the Englishman and offers versatility in that he can play in a number of different positions.
Spurs have so far had a quiet transfer window although they did seal a notable double deal on Friday as they finally kicked into transfer action.