Ajax hope they will collect an eventual fee of close to £40million for Davinson Sanchez, who has expressed a wish to join Tottenham.

At this stage, Spurs do not envisage any problems with securing a work permit for the 21‑year-old, who has played twice for Colombia.

The Dutch club anticipate an initial payment of about £27m for the centre-back but would hope that fee would rise depending on his appearances and achievements.

That first payment would put Sanchez high on the list of Tottenham’s record signings — Erik Lamela cost £30m from Roma in 2013, while Moussa Sissoko’s transfer from Newcastle last summer was agreed with a similar fee in mind.

Mauricio Pochettino has been keen to bring in a new centre-back after enjoying success with a 3-4-2-1 system last season.

The Spurs manager seemed to lose faith in Kevin Wimmer last term — the Austria international’s last competitive outing was in February — while 19-year-old Cameron Carter-Vickers remains one for the future.

Spurs were interested in 19-year-old Argentine Juan Foyth earlier in the summer but it was felt he was being overpriced by his club, Estudiantes.

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Sanchez was a key player for Ajax last term, helping them reach the Europa League Final, where they lost 2-0 to Manchester United.

He could become the third ex-Ajax centre-back in Tottenham’s rearguard, following Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.