Southampton accepts £25m bid from Everton for Hojbjerg as Spurs enter bidding

This is taken from dictionary.com and absolutely falls in line with today’s transfer story:

ga·zump

/ɡəˈzəmp/

verb

1. Informal-British

(of a seller) raise the contracted price of a property after having informally accepted a lower offer (from an intending buyer).

“the trio are fuming after they were gazumped by a property speculator”

2. Informal-Dated

swindle (someone).

Tottenham Hotspur might have just been on the receiving end of a gazumping from Everton, if reports are correct today. While we’ve reported in the past few days that Everton have made a couple of bids for Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, there didn’t seem to be much cause for concern as the Danish International preferred Tottenham and Everton’s bidding basically meant nothing.

That story has changed in the last 24 hours. Let’s start with talkSPORT’s Alex Crook:

We see these things on Twitter all the time. Crook is somewhat in-tune with Southampton but he isn’t overly reliable. Still, we had to take notice because he’s been following the story and hasn’t been wrong yet.

It appears he knew something nobody else did at the time because Jeremy Wilson of The Telegraph followed up not half an hour ago with this:

So that’s two reporters saying the fee is £25m but now Wilson is saying Spurs have caught on and are lodging their own bid. We don’t know what that bid is, but now we know what the asking price is. Spurs still have Kyle Walker-Peters as a bargaining chip but cash on top of KWP is needed to get the deal done.

The problem is that Dan Sheldon of the Daily Echo is saying it may not matter as Everton appear to have gazumped Spurs to the signing:

Having a bid accepted from a club is one thing. Saying that personal terms are also agreed upon means all that’s left is a medical and some photos of the player holding his new kit after signing on the dotted line.

Backing up for a second, if this is where we’re at, we’re one step away from the Willian saga many moons ago. If you’re a new Spurs supporter, the story is that Willian was at Hotspur Way undergoing a medical when his agent got a call from Chelsea saying a fee had been agreed upon and they would offer much higher wages. Willian then left in the middle of his medical and drove across London to sign for the Blues. It’s basically the ultimate gazump story out there.

If Spurs are truly going to get Hojbjerg, they need to do it now. Levy needs to match the bid and deal with possibly selling Kyle Walker-Peters later. If Levy isn’t willing to pay £25m for a defensive midfielder that Spurs could use, then expect to see Hojbjerg holding up a blue kit within the next day or two.

UPDATE #1 (4:11PM ET): Patrick Boyland, one of the most trusted writers for Everton, has pumped the brakes for everyone.

UPDATE #2 (4:26PM ET): Would you look at that: Crook is walking it back a bit. Also, it’s not up to Levy to up his bid necessarily.

UPDATE #3 (4:30PM ET): And now The Echo are walking it back. We’re back to square one, everyone.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has made it clear to Everton he wants to join Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

Reports have emerged tonight which say the Blues have had a £25m offer accepted by Southampton for the midfielder.

But the ECHO understands that Everton have not lodged such a bid and though they have made it clear to Hojbjerg they want him, the player has his heart set on a switch to North London ahead of next season.

I missed Silly Season so much.