Sky Sports journalist Lyall Thomas has claimed that Tottenham have not made an approach for Sporting CP’s Bruno Fernandes, despite reports of a £62m bid being tabled.
Portuguese news outlet O Jogo reported that Tottenham had met the asking price for the attacking midfielder, but that appears to be very wide of the mark.
Talking on the transfer special of the Last Word on Spurs podcast (26 mins), Thomas said he was too expensive and that Tottenham know it.
Asked whether they had an interest in Fernandes Thomas said, “I wouldn’t call it interest because he’s clearly too expensive for them and I think they know that.
“He’s a player who’s got even more interest in him from other clubs and he’s got a higher valuation than [Giovani] Lo Celso.
“There’s been no approach and there’s’ no interest in doing a deal for him as far as I know. United, City, their names have been mentioned and most of the other big clubs in Europe, so I wouldn’t get too excited about this one if I was a Tottenham fan.”
OPINION
Tottenham are getting linked with a lot of players this summer but this is one that fans can draw a line through. Lo Celso is said by Thomas to be the Tottenham’s number one target in the no.10 position and the reports from Portugal seem to be completely off the mark. Tottenham can’t do £50-£80million deals for all the players they want this summer and will be limited to one or two marquee signings. Lo Celso has a release clause of £88million but is likely to go for less than that this summer. Tottenham want Ryan Sessegnon and the latter won’t be cheap, although he won’t fetch the £50million that Fulham are holding out for. Fernandes is a great player but Man City and Man United are after him and that will drive his price up and out of Tottenham’s range. Tottenham have to prioritise and they still need a player in centre-mid, and are reportedly in talks for Tanguy Ndombele. They’re not going to buy Lo Celso and Fernandes.