Arsenal Miss Out As Tottenham Close In On Double Swoop

The summer transfer window is now open for business and it’s expected to be a busy few weeks as managers strengthen their squads ahead of next season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Tottenham are closing in on a double swoop.

Tottenham look set to beat Arsenal to the signing of Eric Dier as Mauricio Pochettino gets set to complete a double defensive swoop that could clear the way for Jan Vertonghen to join Barcelona, according to reports.

New Spurs boss Pochettino has been relatively quiet in the transfer market so far this summer with Michel Vorm and Ben Davies arriving from Swansea City so far, but it looks as though he’s ready to get moving in the window with two more defenders in his sights.

The Express claim that a deal to sign centre-back Eric Dier from Sporting Lisbon is imminent with Spurs understood to have fought off interest from rivals Arsenal to snap up the highly-rated England Under-21 defender.

Dier was born in England but moved to Portugal as a child and came through the youth ranks at Sporting before breaking in to the first team in 2012. However, he’s gone on to make just 30 appearances over the last two years and the newspaper suggests that the 20-year-old will now join Spurs in a £4m deal that will also see Sporting take a percentage of any future transfer.

Dier is certainly a hot prospect for the future but he’s unlikely to be ready to challenge for a first team place at Tottenham just yet and this had led to Pochettino also targetting a move for Villarreal centre-back Mateo Musacchio.

It’s understood that Spurs staff have received positive reports on the 23-year-old and are now pressing ahead with a deal for the Argentinean international defender. Musacchio has been with Villarreal for four seasons and has clocked up 139 appearances for the La Liga outfit, so he has far more experience under his belt compared to Dier.

However, it’s not all good news for Tottenham fans as the Express claim that the arrivals of Dier and Musacchio are in anticipation for the departure of Jan Vertonghen to Barcelona. The Catalans are on the look-out for an experienced centre-back to replace Carles Puyol and Vertonghen has emerged as a key target in recent weeks.

Tottenham are desperate to keep hold of him but the newspaper suggests they will reluctantly allow the Belgian international to move to Spain as long as they have a replacement in place first, and that’s why Pochettino has made his move for Dier and Musacchio.

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It would certainly be a huge blow if Spurs were to lose Vertonghen but it’s always difficult to hang on to your top talent when clubs like Barcelona come calling. We’ll have to see how things develop over the coming weeks but if Tottenham do wrap up a double swoop for Dier and Musacchio then it could pave the way for Vertonghen to make a move to the Nou Camp.