Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha this summer but must first sell a midfielder before getting a deal done, according to journalist Alasdair Gold.
The Lilywhites are keen to strengthen their squad this summer for new manager Thomas Frank and have already completed deals to sign defender Kota Takai and winger Mohammed Kudus, while a £60m deal for Morgan Gibbs-White is currently on standby amid legal troubles with Nottingham Forest.
But now Spurs are looking to add more quality to their midfield options, with Portugal international Palhinha a top target, but there's a twist.
Tottenham Must Sell to Buy Palhinha
£26m asking price also considered high
Palhinha, who currently earns £200,000-a-week with the Bundesliga club, had a terrible maiden campaign in Germany following his big-money move from Fulham as he made just six starts in the league over the whole season.
He is not part of Vincent Kompany's plans for the upcoming campaign and a move back to the Premier League seems to be the most likely destination for him, with Spurs having held talks with the Bavarian side about a move.
It's believed Bayern want around £26m to let him leave permanently, as they aren't interested in a loan and want to recoup as much of their transfer fee back as they can, but Tottenham have a policy of only spending big money on younger players and Palhinha is already in his thirties.
It's also now emerged that the north London club must first sell one of their current midfield options before pushing ahead with a formal offer for the Portugal international.
Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are the current central midfield options while James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski are also capable of playing deeper - as is potential new signing Gibbs-White.
GIVEMESPORT sources understand that Bissouma is likely to leave the club during this transfer window, but a move for Palhinha could potentially happen after that.
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