Marseille want £12m Tottenham player on loan but Daniel Levy doesn’t want to let him go

More details have emerged regarding the possible transfer of Marseille winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou to Tottenham Hotspur. Sky Sports journalist and Spurs beat writer Lyall Thomas is reporting that Marseille is hoping to obtain a replacement for N’Koudou before signing off on the deal, and that it could hold up the transfer.

Earlier reports in L’Equipe suggested that there was a strong likelihood that Tottenham’s inside forward Clinton N’Jie could be heading to Marseille on a season-long loan, but Lyall is casting some doubt on this possibility.

From the Sky report:

N'Jie, who signed for Spurs from Lyon last summer but has hardly played due to injury, wants to stay and fight for his place and Spurs still have high hopes for a player that cost them £12m.

Ideally, Spurs would like to keep N'Jie and sign N'Koudou, with reports in France suggesting a fee for N'Koudou's transfer has been agreed at £10.8m.

This counters the earlier suggestion that Spurs were amenable to the Clinton loan. It would also make sense if you’re of the opinion that cutting bait on a young player who Spurs paid £12m for just a year ago and who had an unfortunate injury-laden season is somewhat of an odd development.

On social media, however, Lyall did suggest that a loan is still a possibility, if that’s what it might take to get this transfer over the line.

If Spurs do balk on a Clinton loan to Marseille this season, and it sound like they are, then it might be a while before this transfer goes through. Marseille is a bit of a hot mess, but they did just sell Michy Batshuayi to Chelsea for £33m, so they’re probably not hurting for cash as much as this might suggest.

In short, this transfer could take a while.