Tottenham are also set to sign Emmanuel Adebayor, but reports
Chelsea have agreed a deal for Brazil starlet Oscar appear to be
premature
Tottenham were today closing in on a deal to sign Porto
midfielder Joao Moutinho - after leaving the field clear for
Chelsea to land Brazilian schemer Oscar.
Andre Villas-Boas, who has already completed the captures of
Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen, is on the brink of adding
Moutinho to give him the dressing room disciple he lacked during
his short-lived spell at Chelsea.
And that has left the Blues as odds-on to capture Oscar, with
Tottenham sources insisting the club pulled out of any interest in
the South American at the end of last week.
Spurs had been tracking the Internacional midfielder and made an
initial £11million bid for the 20-year-old.
But as the move for Moutinho became more concrete, Spurs
switched targets and White Hart Lane sources are adamant Tottenham
told Internacional they were no longer interested in the youngster
three days ago.
Blue boy? Internacional's Oscar could be on his way to Chelsea
That leaves Chelsea the favourites to get their man
although suggestions of a £25m deal having been struck appear
slightly off target.
Oscar's agent, Carlos Meinberg, told Brazilian paper Terra:
"Chelsea did offer 25m (£19.8m) but there is still no agreement
between the clubs.
"That may happen in the next few days. Oscar's other agent,
Giuliano Bertolucci, will travel to England to finalise the
remaining details.
"Tottenham also made an offer, but he should accept Chelsea's
offer as there is more exposure there."
Spurs will fund the likely £22m capture of the 25-year-old
Moutinho, a huge success under Villas-Boas as he guided Porto to an
unbeaten season in 2010-11, by the imminent sale of Luka Modric to
Real Madrid.
Madrid have offered £28m plus former Chelsea defender Ricardo
Carvalho but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is sticking to his demands
for a package valued nearer £35m in order to assent to the
Croatian's departure.
Levy has made it clear he will not sell to a Premier League
rival - both Chelsea and Manchester United were keen on Modric -
and while the negotiations are continuing it seems a deal will be
reached in the next few days.
Levy also seems to be getting close to reaching an agreement
with Manchester City to turn Emmanuel Adebayor's loan deal in N17
into a permanent move.
Thumbs up to Spurs: Emmanuel Adebayor is set to rejoin the club
on a permanent deal
City need to offload Adebayor - and Bosnian Edin Dzeko, a target for Bayern
Munich and AC Milan - in order to find space for Arsenal's
want-away Dutch skipper Robin Van Persie - and appear ready to
accept a £5m bid for the Togo striker, who will bank a huge
signing-on fee to get his wages more in line with Tottenham's
normal policy.
