Spurs close in on a deal for Wigan’s McCarthy.
Tottenham Hotspur are preparing a bid of money plus players for Wigan Athletic midfielder James McCarthy – who the Latics value at £20m – according to the Mirror.
Everton looked in pole position to sign the Irishman as new Toffees boss Roberto Martinez continues to bring in players from former side Wigan, but Spurs are now set to out-price the Merseyside outfit.
Whilst the north London club are not willing to part with £20m directly, manager Andre Villas-Boas is prepared to offer some of the fringe players at White Hart Lane as makeweights in the deal.
One such name is thought to be England under-20 striker Harry Kane, who has struggled to get into the Tottenham first team and spent last season on-loan at Norwich City and Leicester City.
Spurs are more drawn towards a bid of around £12m, with a group of players including Kane to be thrown in to sweeten the deal.
Whether new Wigan boss Owen Coyle will accept that offer is unknown, although the Lancashire side have sent out a clear message that they will not budge on McCarthy’s price.
Villas-Boas has already made one midfield signing this summer, with a club record fee of £17m being paid to Brazilian side Corinthians for the services of Paulinho.
However, whilst AVB checks out more midfielders Spurs fans are likely to be getting twitchy at the lack of offensive signings being made, as Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor are currently the only senior strikers at the club.
Last season Tottenham struggled to maintain a Premier League and Europa League challenge with just two front-men and it’s thought that attack is the area AVB should be concentrating on improving first.
COMMENTS