David Pleat: Tottenham have ended their pursuit of Juan Foyth after late PSG bid

One day after reports surfaced on Twitter that PSG had gazumped Tottenham Hotspur for the service of Argentina U20 center back Juan Foyth, Tottenham have dropped interest in the player, according to David Pleat.

La Plata-based paper El Dia, the home paper of Foyth’s club Estudiantes, has been on the forefront of the Foyth transfer mini-saga and corroborated much of the early reporting that showed up online last night. El Dia writes that Tottenham and Estudiantes director Juan Sebastian Veron were indeed very close to a deal that would bring Foyth to London. Veron, however, was not happy with Daniel Levy’s most recent offer of $10m (£7.67m), which was structured as $7m up front and $3m in performance-based add-ons, and pulled the plug on the deal just before it was signed.

PSG then swooped in with a $12m offer that now makes them the favorites for Foyth’s signature. Contrary to the reports on Twitter, however, the deal is not yet done, as stated by an unknown Estudiantes official. "We are close but there is still nothing final,” said the source. “We continue to listen.”

Interestingly, Real Madrid also reportedly made a bid for Foyth but their bid wasn’t as high as Spurs’ or PSG’s. That, plus the suggestion that he is more likely to receive eventual first team football in London or Paris, ruled Madrid out of the running.

I don’t know what this means for Spurs. El Dia doesn’t give any indication that Spurs might be willing to up their offer, and if they want PSG can blow Spurs out of the water financially. However, PSG are also reportedly mulling meeting the €200m+ release clause of Neymar and are also kicking the tires of Alexis Sanchez, so I don’t know what to think.

As of right now, though, it appears likely that Foyth will continue his development in Paris and not London. While it’s not a huge transfer whiff, if he turns out to be as good as some think he can be, Spurs might rue this missed opportunity a few years down the road.

UPDATE: the latest reports say that Pleat confirmed Spurs have dropped their interest in Foyth.