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Tottenham Hotspur midfield talent Alfie Devine remains wanted by Preston North End, but the clock is ticking on the Deepdale outfit doing a deal, according to journalist Alan Nixon.
Devine spent the season on loan at Preston in the Championship, clocking the regular game time he would not have got had he stayed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The loan spell worked well for Devine, who admitted in December he was loving it, while praise from North End boss Paul Heckingbottom regularly flowed his way.
It emerged earlier this month when the loan ended that Preston had a deal agreed with Tottenham to sign Devine.
The fee set is £4.5m and Preston have been looking to spread the amount over a number of years to make it affordable.
Now though there is time pressure as Preston ‘have until the end of June’ to complete the deal as the fee agreement runs until the end of his official loan, on 30th June.
Until that time, Preston are free to sign Devine, but once the deadline passes then other sides will be able to enter the race.
Tottenham star Loaned to Yang Min-hyeok Coventry City Ashley Phillips Stoke City Alfie Devine Preston North End Will Lankshear Oxford United Jamie Donley Oxford United Tottenham players on loan at Championship clubs
For Tottenham, offloading Devine on a permanent basis will bring in extra cash that can go into Roberto De Zerbi’s transfer kitty.
Despite uncertainty over their division, Tottenham are pushing ahead with work in the transfer market.
Experienced Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson is wanted, but Spurs do face competition from Turkish outfit Fenerbahce.
Another goalkeeper is tipped to be on Tottenham’s agenda, with uncertainty over Guglielmo Vicario, who has come in for criticism at points this season.
Vicario though appears to have dropped off Inter Milan’s radar.
Tottenham have been namechecked as a possible destination for Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.
One Spurs star who looks certain to leave is attacker Randal Kolo Muani, who is on loan at the club from Paris Saint-Germain.