Tottenham are trying to snatch Porto striker Radamel Falcao right from under the noses of Atletico Madrid.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp is ready to turn to the Porto striker after another fruitless transfer window chasing big-name forwards.
He is desperate to sign the Colombian star, having witnessed his current crop of strikers, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko manage just 17 goals between them last season.
Falcao, whose 33 goals last season helped the Portuguese club complete a remarkable treble, has also been previously linked with Chelsea and more recently Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish club are believed to be frontrunners for Falcao’s signature, who has a minimum fee release clause of around £42m
Atletico are understood to be preparing a bid for the prolific forward and Spurs are ready to rival the bid having freed up space by offloading Robbie Keane to LA Galaxay.
The La Liga side have a huge hole to fill in their side following the £38m sale of Sergio Aguero to Manchester City last month and are ready to use some of that money to sign Falcao.
The 25-year-old, who expressed a desire to play in the Premier League, has singled out a switch to Atletico as something that interests him.
“Atletico are a great team with great support and it would be a great opportunity for my career,” he said.
“Obviously all players think about going to play in England, Spain or Italy – anyone who says they don’t is lying.
“I’m honest, my parents taught me that, and I would like to go and play in one of these leagues.”
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