On July 1st, we carried a report from AS, who explained that Tottenham Hotspur are the ‘main candidate’ to sign Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos in the summer transfer window.

Tuesday’s edition of the same newspaper now claims Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has been persistently pushing his side to secure the midfielder’s services.

Christian Eriksen is also linked with a move to the Spanish capital club, but AS states the Champions League runners-up want the Euro U21 winner more than Los Blancos need the Denmark international.

It’s claimed the 13-time European champions have ‘opened negotiations’ with the north London club for the 22 year old, and everything sounds optimistic.

After winning the Euro U21 with Spain, Ceballos stressed he wants to play 40 games next season.

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Zinedine Zidane has already informed the player he will not be able to play that many games for the La Liga giants and has encouraged him to leave.

Real Madrid’s idea is to allow him go out on loan.

AS says Tottenham have agreed to those terms, that it would be a loan rather a permanent transfer. It sounds like just an outline agreement to a loan, with specific details on cost and any potential clauses not covered.

Spurs are said to be happy to do this in the knowledge they will have the financial muscle to sign him on a permanent transfer in 2020, if there’s still no clear Madrid future.

Taking a player on loan at a big club like Spurs can often result in groans from fans, but this genuinely looks like a good opportunity. Barcelona and Real Madrid have had their own loans down the years, and if it’s good enough for them then surely Tottenham can’t turn their nose up.