Tottenham To Steal March On Arsenal & Chelsea With £28m Midfielder Bid

Managers are now pressing ahead with their plans for the final weeks of the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, the latest on Ross Barkley…

Tottenham are ready to steal a march on their London rivals by submitting a formal offer worth up to £28m for Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, according to the Telegraph.

Barkley has been with Everton his entire career having progressed through their youth ranks and has been a first team regular for several years but his future at Goodison Park is now in serious doubt.

The 23-year-old has entered the final year of his contract and he’s made it clear he has no intention of signing an extension so Ronald Koeman has indicated the club will cash-in if a suitable offer arrives this summer.

Barkley is still considered one of the most talented young midfielders in Britain so it’s no surprise he’s attracted plenty of interest with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham all strongly linked in recent weeks.

The Express reported over the weekend that Arsenal were hoping to gazump their rivals by launching a late move to sign Barkley as Arsene Wenger looks to further strengthen his midfield options this summer.

However, it looks like Tottenham are now ready to put themselves in to pole position as the Telegraph claim Spurs will open formal talks with Everton this week and are set to test their resolve with an offer that could reach £28m.

The Toffees had initially been holding out for £50m at the start of the summer but Barkley’s value has dropped the closer we get to deadline day and the fact he’s been ruled out with a serious hamstring injury has also hampered Everton’s negotiating position.

The Telegraph suggest that Spurs are ready to take advantage of the situation by submitting an opening bid that will see them pay £20m up front with a further £8m coming in add-ons.

Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be extremely active during the closing days of the window and Barkley would offer him another top class option to compete with the likes of Dele Alli, Moussa Dembele and Christian Eriksen if he did move to White Hart Lane.

However, the newspaper says that Chelsea are also expected to table a bid of their own before the end of the month and may be confident of winning the race for Barkley’s signature as they are able to offer him a contract worth £100,000-a-week.

READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news | Spurs transfer news | Arsenal transfer news

It’s a fascinating situation as it looks like the three London giants are ready to battle-it-out over Barkley during the closing stages of the transfer window and I think he’d be a superb signing if any club can agree a deal at under £30m.