By stopping Holtby from going to Schalke Levy will undermine Spurs’ rivals.
Tottenham Hotspur could be set to deliver a blow to north London rivals Arsenal and their pursuit of Schalke 04 starlet Julian Draxler, according to the Mirror.
The Bundesliga side had lined up former player Lewis Holtby as the ideal candidate to fill the void left by Draxler, but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has blocked that transfer.
Levy does not want to help out the Gunners in any way and will not allow Holtby to leave on-loan as a result – even though the Germany international has requested this to happen to save the 23-year-old’s World Cup chances.
New Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood wants a clear-out at White Hart Lane, having already allowed Jermain Defoe to agree a deal with FC Toronto and Emmanuel Adebayor, Etienne Capoue and Nacer Chadli also linked with moves.
If Schalke cannot bring in Holtby however, the club are less likely to allow Draxler leave – although can obviously do nothing if the 20-year-old’s £40m release clause is met.
This move from Levy could stretch the already tense relationship in north London even further, although with the Lily Whites somewhat struggling for form in the league it’s clear to see the tactics from the chairman.
Holtby has started just seven matches this term and with such a plethora of talent available to national team boss Joachim Loew it’s unlikely the midfielder would get a place in the 23-man World Cup squad with this current amount of game time.
To date the Spurs man has three international caps for Germany, although has not featured for the country since March 2013.
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