Tottenham and Brighton submit offers to 19 year-old South American forward

It’s been a summer of serious upheaval at Tottenham, with Roberto De Zerbi handed in excess of £300million to reshape a squad that only avoided relegation on the final day last season.

That outlay hasn’t stopped the questions, though, with back-to-back Premier League defeats to Brentford and Newcastle either side of a comfortable Carabao Cup win over Charlton leaving Spurs in the bottom three and without a point after two games.

REUTERS/Chris Radburn

Part of the summer rebuild has also been about clearing space up front. Richarlison looks set to move on – the Brazilian looked likely to join Everton as part of a deal to bring in Iliman Ndiaye, but reticence from both players meant the deals were shelved and Spurs went for Mykhailo Mudryk while Ndiaye joined Manchester City.

The 29 year-old now looks set to join Trabzonspor, having been left out of Spurs’ Premier League sqaud and agreed personal terms on a huge salary increase with the Turkish club.

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Dane Scarlett and Will Lankshear have both been allowed to leave, and Mason Melia has been sent out on loan to get regular minutes elsewhere. That leaves Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush as the senior options through the middle, and with both edging closer to 30 than 20, it’s easy to see why the club have been keeping tabs on emerging talent further afield rather than just focusing on the here and now.

Tottenham and Brighton battling for Leonel Flores

One name who keeps cropping up in that conversation is Boca Juniors forward Leonel Flores, with reports in Argentina claiming Tottenham have joined a growing list of English admirers, alongside the likes of Brighton, Manchester City and Aston Villa.

Football FanCast sources understand Tottenham and Brighton have both gone beyond casual scouting and have actually put proposals to the 19-year-old, outlining exactly what his pathway into the first team would look like at either club, with Spurs believing they can offer him regular first-team minutes as soon as next season.

Crucially, both sides are also said to be willing to meet his reported release clause in January, believed to sit at around €13million (£11.1m), meaning any deal would come down to Flores’ own preference on where he plays his football next with the club to club arrangements more or less agreed.

Flores isn’t a pure number nine – he is comfortable drifting wide as well as through the middle – and he’s already forcing his way into Boca’s senior plans, with two goals and an assist from his first 12 appearances under Rodolfo Arruabarrena.

Back on the pitch, Tottenham’s focus now turns to a trip to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday, as De Zerbi searches for his first win of the season. Forest themselves have won their last four meetings with Spurs and go into the weekend on the back of a battling 2-2 draw at Liverpool, while there’s better news at the other end for the visitors, with Mohammed Kudus back available after seven months out following his substitute cameo against Newcastle.