Tottenham hopeful they can poach top target from Arsenal and Manchester United

Tottenham still think they have a chance to attract Morgan Schneiderlin to White Hart Lane, even if the odds aren't that great. The Standard is reporting this morning that Tottenham officials remain hopeful that they can convince the French midfielder to come to Spurs from Southampton as interest from Arsenal and Manchester United cools.

Schniederlin has stated that his preference is to only leave Southampton for a club that plays in the Champions League, which Spurs cannot offer. However, Southampton are reportedly demanding a £25m transfer fee for Schneiderlin, a high enough price that both Arsenal and United are backing off from meeting that valuation. This might create an opening for Tottenham to slip in and forge an agreement.

The Standard suggests that £25m is more than what Spurs want to pay, but they could throw in some combination of Andros Townsend and Benjamin Stambouli as a make-weight in a player(s)-plus-cash deal.

Morgan Schneiderlin is the Holy Grail of midfielders for Spurs this summer. He's worked with Mauricio Pochettino before, has proven himself to work excellently in Poche's high press midfield, and would instantly make Tottenham's midfield better. A Schneiderlin-Bentaleb midfield suddenly makes me love football a lot more. But let's not get our hopes up: a lot needs to happen, including Spurs actually making a bid and Schneiderlin deciding that he was just kidding about the whole Champions League thing for this to become reality.

But still, the club apparently has hope. I think I'll choose to have hope too.