Premier League

Tottenham table £13m offer for Barcelona midfielder; Sporting captain ‘not surprised’ Spurs want defender

Tottenham target Franck Kessie tackles an opponent

Tottenham have launched a bid to sign Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie as they look ahead to the January transfer window, according to reports.

The Ivory Coast international joined the Catalan giants in the summer on a free transfer from AC Milan after months of speculation as to where he could end up.

However, his time at the Camp Nou has not quite gone to plan with Kessie only making five starts in all competitions before the international break.

And now Spanish publication Sport insist that Kessie ‘one of the players with the potential to leave the club’ in January but his departure will ‘depend directly on a good offer’.

Xavi sees him as a good option to have in his rotation system at the club and Kessie ‘does not want to leave the club’. But Barcelona need ‘financial liquidity to sign up Gavi’ and Kessie could have to leave to free up funds.

One offer has already arrived from Tottenham for Kessie with the Premier League side offering €15m (£13m) for the 26-year-old but the report does not specify whether it has been accepted or rejected.

Spurs spent a good chunk of money in the summer to improve Antonio Conte’s squad with the arrivals of Richarlison, Cristian Romero, Yves Bissouma, Destiny Udogie, Djed Spence, Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Clement Lenglet.

And there is speculation Daniel Levy could sign off more transfers in the January window with Sporting Lisbon defender Pedro Porro linked to Tottenham for several months.

Emerson Royal, Spence and Matt Doherty have failed to prove that they are Conte’s long-term solutions at right full-back and he has made Porro a target for the next couple of windows.

And Sporting Lisbon captain Carlos Xavier is “not surprised” by the interest from Tottenham and tipped Porro to become a future Spain international.

“I’m not surprised that Tottenham and other clubs have their eye on him. He is a player that can do and makes a lot of difference whenever he plays,” Xavier told Bancada.

“In Portugal he is for sure the best. Along with Nuno Santos, mind you. I’m sorry he’s not Portuguese. I’m really sorry.

“He is really a player with such intensity and intelligence that I believe he is one of the best in Europe, alongside João Cancelo and Trent Alexander-Arnold. He is really a player who has a margin of progression ahead of him.

“I have no doubt at all that he could be the future full-back for the Spanish national team.”

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