The French club have rejected Spurs’ opening €45m (£40m) bid – and Jean-Michel Aulas says he will increase the price tag unless talks speed up
Tottenham have been told they will have to pay £72million for Tanguy Ndombele if they continue to drag out negotiations with Lyon.
Jean-Michel Aulas, the French club’s president, has confirmed an opening bid of £40m from Spurs, which is significantly below their valuation for the 22-year-old midfielder.
The bid was subsequently rejected and talks are ongoing, but Aulas admits he is getting frustrated by Daniel Levy’s slow approach to the deal.
Aulas said: “If I wait another eight days, it will be €80m. Tottenham made us an opening offer worth €45m.
“Then, we discussed more. Nothing is done, I can assure you. We are not in a hurry either.
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“Tanguy has shown his qualities with the French national team. He is one of our best players. How much is he worth? I do not know, but not just €45m.”
The Telegraph reports that Spurs are willing to break their current transfer record and spend £55m to land the France international, but they are unlikely to pay £72m if Aulas follows through on his threat.
It’s not the first time Levy and Aulas have clashed during transfer negotiations.
The Lyon president accused Tottenham’s owner of repeatedly going back on his word during the signing of Hugo Lloris in 2012.
Speaking at the time, Aulas said: “We had people speaking all night with Daniel Levy. He talks a lot and goes back on what we’ve agreed in writing. Agreements have not at all been respected.
“We had email exchanges which have been contradicted, so that’s made it very complicated. It’s difficult. The Tottenham board’s theory is to explain that the economic market is very hard and so we have to get used to renegotiating.
“It’s been very, very difficult. I’ve got 25 years of experience as a president of a club and it’s our 16th participation in a European competition in a row. But this is very rare in the football world. The negotiation with the Tottenham directors has been the hardest I have ever had to undergo in these 25 years.”
Dealing with Levy is never easy – Sir Alex Ferguson once said negotiations with the Spurs supremo were more painful that his hip replacement.
