Tottenham have agreed personal terms with Jan Paul van Hecke and a staggering third bid Spurs are confident will seal the deal has been greenlit, according to reports.
Tottenham have already banked two new defenders for Roberto De Zerbi, with Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi arriving via free agency.
Another centre-back on top of Senesi is wanted, and on Sunday, Brighton via CEO, Paul Barber, officially confirmed they’ve rejected two Tottenham bids.
The first was understood to be worth around £40m. The second was elevated to roughly £50m, and both were knocked back.
Those sums are staggering, not least because Dutch international Van Hecke only has one year remaining on his contract and thus can be signed for nothing a year from now.
Nevertheless, De Zerbi in particular is keen to immediately reunite with Van Hecke who he managed during his time with the Seagulls.
Accordingly, TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, brought news on Monday morning of Spurs thrashing out an agreement on personal terms with the 26-year-old.
Tottenham agree Van Hecke terms / Crazy third bid approved
That is a clear signal Tottenham will bid again despite the crazy sums they’ve already put forward. And on Monday afternoon, two sources both confirmed Tottenham have indeed approved a raised third bid they’re confident will get this deal done.
Taking to X, TEAMtalk’s Fraser Fletcher and reporter Ben Jacobs both verified a third bid is coming.
Fletcher wrote: ‘Spurs set to place third bid for Jan Paul van Hecke with the Brighton defender making it clear he wants to make the move.’
Jacobs wrote: ‘Spurs intend to place a third bid for Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke.
‘Van Hecke only has a year left on his contract and wants to join. There remains optimism an agreement can be reached.’
Want more breaking news and transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.
Latest on Joao Palhinha and Savinho
Elsewhere, Tottenham intend to renegotiate the cost of signing Joao Palhinha outright from Bayern Munich.
The midfielder is also being courted by Sporting CP, but favours joing Spurs permanently following a successful loan spell. Tottenham want to pay less than their €30m / £26m option to buy.
The north London side are also advancing in a club-to-club talks with Manchester City for Savinho.
The Brazilian is projected to cost a fee in the £50m-£60m range and is ready to say yes to Spurs once again, just as he did last summer before City blocked the move.