Spurs are closing in on the signing of Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid while Emmanuel Adebayor is expected on loan from Manchester City as the club finally come to life in the transfer market.
The hold-up in both deals has been wages. Tottenham have a strict salary structure and if they matched what either player was on it would break it.
Adebayor is reportedly on £170,000 per week while Diarra is on £85,000 per week after tax in Spain. One way of resolving the dispute is by paying the players a fee up front or even paying the clubs an added fee that can be used to subsidise their salary.
Spurs are refusing to negotiate on Luka Modric however. One source claimed Chelsea bid £30 million for the player last week but Spurs insist they have received no bid and would reject it in any case.
The player is understood to be growing increasingly frustrated by chairman Daniel Levy’s intransigence, but remains committed to playing for Spurs and is expected to be named in the team to play Manchester United tomorrow.