Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is set to launch a £40million January raid for Tottenham centre-back Toby Alderweireld, according to The Sun.
The newspaper report that Mourinho has been given the green light to pursue a new defender in the upcoming window after talks with Ed Woodward and his agent Jose Mendes.
The Sun claim that Spurs star Alderweireld is his number one target with Mourinho confident he can secure a £40million deal for the Belgium international, who is out of contract in the summer.
Good move for Tottenham Hotspur?
Absolutely not.
Alderweireld is one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League, and letting him leave in January for any price would be a bad move.
Obviously there is not much time left on his current deal but there is still hope that with a strong second half to the season Spurs can convince Alderweireld to sign another contract.
Letting him leave in the middles of the season to a close rival would be highly inadvisable, and Spurs fans would no doubt turn on Daniel Levy should this happen.
This is Futbol rating: 1/10
Likely to happen?
For the reasons stated above, no.
Manchester United have been targeting a move for Alderweireld for a while now, but Spurs will be loathe to lose him at this point in the season and will not play ball in any way.
Obviously there will be some thoughts about taking the money with Alderweireld potentially leaving for nothing in the summer, but the club are said to have an extension option which would guarantee them £25million if he were to then leave.
This is Futbol rating: 2/10