Tottenham Transfer News: Spurs keen to activate La Liga star's £35m clause

Spurs are said to be leading the race for a La Liga prospect who has been catching the eye of Real Madrid.

It has not been the happiest of seasons for Tottenham Hotspur, but with a last-16 spot in the Champions League confirmed, they could yet hand supporters some more joy with some late transfer activity.

The Lilywhites are approaching the final days of the January window having parted ways with winger Brennan Johnson and signed Conor Gallagher and defender Souza.

And with time running out, they continue to be linked with a potential like-for-like replacement for Johnson, with the most recent rumour doing the rounds suggesting they could favour a speedy deal.

According to Spanish football news outlet Fichajes, Spurs are at the front of the queue with regard to their interest in Osasuna winger Victor Munoz, who is also being watched by Real Madrid following a promising start to life in La Liga.

Munoz is no stranger to those in Madrid, having had a handful of brief cameos in the first team, including at last summer’s Club World Cup.

He was sold weeks after their time in the United States to Osasuna, who have handed him a starting role in the top flight, where he only played for 34 minutes in Real’s colours.

At Osasuna, he has been immediately installed into the first team, playing across the frontline, showcasing his versatility.

Munoz’s fine performances this term don’t appear to be a surprise to his former club, with Real Madrid having a buy-back option worth €8m (£7m).

However, it is thought that in a bid to bypass club-to-club negotiations and bring Munoz in before the deadline, Spurs are thought to be ‘willing to meet’ his release clause of €40m (£35m).

At this point, Real Madrid could still scupper Tottenham’s approach, though having only sold him a matter of months ago, it will not have been in Los Blancos’ plans to activate their buy-back clause so soon – handing Spurs a potential advantage.

However, as proposed by Fichajes, Real Madrid may see the interest in Munoz as a chance to gain a sizeable profit. Either way, Spurs seem keen to take a gamble as the void left by Johnson remains unfilled.

Although Munoz may not be a Johnson-esque player – he only has four goals to his name this term, while Johnson was Spurs’ top scorer last season – the fact that Thomas Frank had no place for the Welshman in N17 suggests a different profile of player could lead to better results on the pitch.

That said, a significant goal threat has departed north London this month, and looking to the likes of Munoz to replace this threat seems to carry a lot of risk, particularly for a manager already fighting for his job.

It raises the question of whether Spurs are in a position to take such a luxurious – and expensive – plunge.

Graduated in Sport Journalism (BA) with first-class honours from the University of Brighton and has since had bylines in The Times, sports business publication SportsPro, Football FanCast and The Gooner fanzine.

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