SPURS IN £20M LEANDRO DAMIAO RAID

[RoterTeufel]

SPURS IN £20M LEANDRO DAMIAO RAID

TOTTENHAM are trying to pull off a last-minute swoop for £20m Leandro Damiao.

The club’s lack of options upfront was exposed by their FA Cup exit at Leeds.

There are fears at White Hart Lane that their top-four bid could also be undermined by a shortage of firepower.

So Spurs remain hopeful of bringing in a new striker before Thursday’s transfer deadline.

Andre Villas-Boas’ men were without injured Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor - who is on African Cup of Nations duty with Togo - as they went down 2-1 at Elland Road.

Publically, Villas-Boas has maintained: “We are happy with the options we have.”

And earlier this month he described a deal for 23-year-old Damiao as unlikely.

But privately Spurs have continued working behind the scenes to bolster their front line and not given up on landing Damiao, with Internacional wanting around £20m for the Brazil striker.

Damiao has 14 caps and topped the scoring charts at the 2012 Olympics.

Internacional have knocked back offers from Spurs in the past, but the White Hart Lane outfit are understood to be ready to offer goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes plus cash to try and persuade them to do business.

Spurs will turn to Seville’s Spain striker Alvaro Negredo if they fail in their attempts to land Damiao.

Spurs were also active in the market yesterday as they agreed a £1.5m deal for Schalke star Lewis Holtby, which will be signed today.

Holtby had been due to join on a free transfer this summer, but Spurs and Schalke have agreed a compromise deal to rush the move through during the transfer window.