Alen Halilovic to Spurs: Almost done. Again.

The Croatian newspaper Jutarnji reports that Alen Halilovic's father has agreed in principle to his son's transfer from Dinamo Zagreb to Tottenham Hotspur. From the beginning of this story, the primary holdup has not been the agreement on a transfer fee between Dinamo and Spurs, but the strange tug-of-war between Halilovic's father Sead and Dinamo's management. Sead Halilovic did not want his son playing for Spurs' U21s, but he also didn't want Alen loaned back to Dinamo for reasons that have never been entirely clear. If Halilovic the Elder has signed off now, the deal should be as good as done. "Should," of course, does not mean "is." A parent who is, shall we say, highly involved in his young adult son's life has the ability change his mind for reasons that could be difficult for outsiders to fathom. So until this is done, it isn't done.

Here's the Croatian report from Jutarnji:

Saga o transferu Alena Halilovića na Otok primaknula se kraju. Prema informacijama iz Maksimira, obitelj Halilović u petak je održala novu rundu pregovora s Dinamom nakon kojih je je otac Sead načelno pristao na uvjete koje Tottenham nudi mladom igraču.

Kako je Mamić već pristao na odštetu (spominje se 15 milijuna eura i određeni bonusi), više ništa ne stoji na putu da Halilović odjene dres Tottenhama. Pretpostavlja se da će Alen ostati u Dinamu barem do punoljetnosti pa tek onda otići u London

The basic google translate upshot here is that the €15m fee remains in place, but Sead Halilovic will consent to his son's transfer. Alen will remain with Dinamo at least "into adulthood" which I presume means until he's 18. The midfield starlet only just turned 17 this June, so that would mean he would play this next full season in the Prva HNL before coming to England in summer 2014.

Croatian journalist Aleksandar Holiga, who has been the best English language source on the story all the way through, has reported that the deal includes not only Alen but also his 15-year-old younger brother Dino. Dino is apparently a star of Zagreb's U15 side, but a 15-year-old is basically a lottery ticket, and this addition to the deal is presumably more for the sake of father Halilovic than due to any significant Spurs interest in the kid.