Marmoush and Savinho: Tottenham's £140m gamble on City's cast-offs
Tottenham's summer spending spree shows no signs of slowing. According to reports, they have set their sights on not one but two Manchester City forwards, with Omar Marmoush already giving the green light to a move to north London.
The Egypt international, 27, has reportedly told Spurs he wants in. Personal terms are yet to be finalised, though nobody is expecting that to be a stumbling block. His camp have heard what Tottenham have to say and, apparently, they like it.
Why the sudden eagerness to leave the reigning FA Cup and Carabao Cup holders? The answer is as obvious as it is inevitable: Erling Haaland. Marmoush will never be the regular starter through the middle at City while the Norwegian is around. He wants to play centrally again, the way he did at Eintracht Frankfurt, and Tottenham are offering him exactly that.
City, for their part, are open to selling both Marmoush and Savinho — but not cheaply. talkSPORT and Ben Jacobs have claimed the Blues want £150m combined for the pair. Tottenham are currently £10m short of that, willing to go to £140m for the two of them.
Savinho, 22, agreed personal terms with Spurs earlier in the summer, and on Wednesday David Ornstein revealed club-to-club talks between the two clubs were progressing. If both deals go through, Tottenham's summer spend would rocket past £370m — and that's before you factor in Cody Gakpo.
Spurs are also pushing hard for the Liverpool winger, whom the Reds value at £70m. Gakpo, 27, has agreed personal terms and is desperate to make the move, with Roberto De Zerbi convincing him he'll start regularly and be central to the project. Liverpool, though, won't give the final green light until they've signed, or come close to signing, two more wingers. They've already banked Victor Munoz and are chasing Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye of PSG, with talks happening daily.
If Gakpo joins the fold too, Tottenham's total outlay this summer would sail past £450m. For a club that has spent nothing on forwards so far this window, that would represent one hell of a statement.
One suspects the Etihad hierarchy won't be losing sleep over any of this. Selling two squad players for £140m is the kind of business that keeps accountants happy and squad lists manageable. Whether Tottenham get their entirely new front three remains to be seen, but they are certainly making all the right noises.