The Premier League duo will scrap it out for the Anzhi winger.
Anzhi Makhachkala star Willian has become the subject of a fierce transfer battle between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur after being transfer-listed by the Russians.
Whilst it seemed that the Reds had taken the initiative in signing the 25-year-old, Spurs are now preparing to hijack the deal and top the Merseyside club’s £26m valuation, reports the Mirror.
Tottenham are getting ready for the very realistic prospect of life without talisman Gareth Bale at the club, with Real Madrid aiming to place a world record bid for the Welshman.
The north London outfit have already recruited strongly with the likes of Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli and Paulinho, but would bring in Willian as a like-for-like replacement for Bale.
Anzhi have placed all of their players on the transfer list in a bid to reduce the club’s annual wage bill from £120m to £50m and despite only having been in Russia for six months, the Brazil international could already be on the way out.
Willian was a £30m transfer from Shakhtar Dontesk back in January and it’s likely Anzhi would want to get back near to that amount if they were to sell the winger.
It’s thought that Liverpool were only prepared to offer £26m, but Spurs would top that fee and break the side’s transfer record for the second time this summer – after paying £26m for Soldado.
By bringing in the Brazilian, Tottenham would be sending a very serious message to the rest of the Premier League that the club expect to be competing at the highest level this term.
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