Tottenham have opened negotiations with Lazio over a deal to sell Younes Kaboul as they look to make room in their squad for the imminent arrival of Mateo Musacchio.

Spurs are close to completing a £17million deal for the Villarreal and Argentina defender, who will be manager Mauricio Pochettino’s fourth acquisition of the summer.

Former Southampton boss Pochettino wants Musacchio to form a central defensive partnership with Belgium World Cup star Jan Vertonghen, who is set to sign a new contract, as revealed by Standard Sport last month.

Spurs have plenty of central defenders to choose from and want to get one off their books. Club captain Michael Dawson is prepared to stay and fight for his place after nine years at White Hart Lane, while Vlad Chiriches is expected to be given the chance to build on an encouraging first season in England following his move from Steaua Bucharest.

Spurs signed England Under-21 international Eric Dier from Sporting Lisbon in a £4m deal last week, while Zeki Fryers is likely to be retained because of his versatility.

Having missed the entire 2012-13 season with a knee problem sustained on the opening day at Newcastle, Kaboul made just 20 appearances last term because of further injuries and has only one year remaining on his current contract.

France international Kaboul, 28, has started 72 Premier League games in four-and-a-half years since rejoning Spurs from Portsmouth in 2010 for £5m. Spurs want £6m for Kaboul but Lazio have have offered only £4.8m so far and are prepared to wait until the end of the transfer window to finalise the deal.

Pochettino has spent £19m so far on Dier and Swansea duo Ben Davies and Michel Vorm and he will almost double his outlay with the purchase of Musacchio.

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Musacchio, 23, is a highly-rated central defender and Villarreal are already resigned to seeing him leave for White Hart Lane.

The La Liga club’s coach, Marcelino, said: “It’s a situation with three parties: the player, the buyer and the club in the middle and, as I have said many times, if the club sell an important player it’s because the right conditions to do so have been met.

“Mateo is a very important player for Villarreal. He’s an excellent player and will be a difficult loss to cover, especially as he plays in a tough position to reinforce.”